The Dragon's Muse
by UsuaWolfPup
Summary: A human psychic with untapped abilities and potential, Gavriella Kuwabara's life is thrown into chaos when the death of her father leads her back to her childhood home. There, she will discover the depths of her family's power, and the importance of staying true to yourself in the face of your deepest fears.
1. Chapter 1

Pulling the duffle bag off of the drop, I inspected the crowd around me. Mostly what I saw were older businessmen and younger executives, ambitious and willing to sell their soul for the chance to move up and make a name for themselves. Japan hadn't changed in the last seven years.

I hauled the bag onto my shoulder, limping beneath the weight and searching for a way to get outside of this place. It took my brain a full thirty seconds to transfer the Japanese to my native language, which humiliated me to say the least. Listening and speaking was no problem, but writing and reading was always a problem for my brain to process. I did my best to make my way in an orderly fashion to the nearest door, deciding to walk a few blocks before calling for a taxi. There were too many busy, loud men and women all clamoring for the quickest way to get where they were going. Hell, I would be willing to walk if I wasn't lugging most of my possessions on my left shoulder, which was quickly losing all feeling.

I found a taxi in a few minutes, giving the address to my cousin's home. Shizuru had been sweet to offer to pick me up, but I didn't want to put her through the trouble. What with Kazuma getting into constant trouble and her being in charge of the household, I didn't care for making her go through anymore trouble than she already was for putting me up for my father's funeral.

"Miss, we're here."

I jolted, suddenly aware of my semiconscious state, and handed him the money for my ride, pulling my bag up and heaving it onto my shoulder again, taking a breath. The pavement probably would have sank in if we had been inside of an anime, but luckily this was the real world, and sinking pavements did not really exist other than within the limits of construction sites that put in wet concrete. I stared up at the house, memories of small children racing around the practically nonexistent yard around the perimeter. It was so much larger when we were all three feet or less.

I lifted my hand to knock on the door when something in my peripheral vision caught my attention. There was nothing but trees in front of an older looking house, but nothing that should have caught my eye. I moved away from the door and tried to find anything out of the usual, watching the trees swaying.

"Good to see that you haven't changed."

I jumped, grinning at my older cousin and dumping my bag, leaping into her. She laughed, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me. The smell of tobacco and ink was absolutely beautiful, and intoxicatingly sickening.

"Where's the little one?"  
"Oh god, you really haven't been around."  
"As long as he isn't taller than me, it's all good."

"Sweetie, everyone is taller than you."

I elbowed her, lightly, laughing while we each took a side of my bag and heaved it into the house. Shizuru tossed her end down to the left of the door, which meant that by all logic mine followed the dominant end. The house hadn't changed much from what I remembered, the same basic layout with different colors of furniture and new pictures. Japanese houses didn't change as much as the houses in Italy, clearly.

"Kazuma will take care of your bag once he gets back from the arcade. A good workout will be good for him after all of the pathetic beatings he takes from his friend Yusuke. You'll be staying in the guest bedroom if that's alright, seeing as I have a weird work schedule and you don't want to room with my brother." She led the way up the stairs, showing me the plainly decorated room, a single bed with pink bedsheets and a small desk in the corner of the room. It would do nicely. "I'm sorry about your dad, Gav. None of us saw it coming."

I looked down, remembering the real reason I was standing in my childhood home. I had almost forgotten with the excitement of seeing my family again.

"An accident is something no one sees coming. He was a good father from what I remember." I stated awkwardly, shifting my feet. It was expected of us to go through the motions, but how are you supposed to communicate about a subject no one can prepare for? It was like trying to paint Picasso with a blindfold and Beethoven's fifth symphony playing in the background. "You said Kazuma was at the arcade?"

"Yeah, he went down to burn a hole in his pocket with some of his friends from school. You should go surprise him, get to know the town. You want me to show you the way?" Shizuru jumped on the change of subject, motioning toward the door. I smiled, nodding and glancing around the room once more.

I looked at the pictures as we descended the staircase, pulling at my sweater and following at a close distance to my cousin. Whilst I was positive I would not lose her in the crowd, I was less certain that I would not find myself in a position where I would have to beat off a few punks looking to scam the foreigner, and Shizuru would probably deter any of that from happening. Proximity equals safety with scary women.

I told Shizuru about my school, my friend group and my dance community, walking backwards while talking to her. She told me about her work, dealing with raising Kazuma while their parents were abroad working and trying to keep him out of trouble. I was shocked at the distance Kazuma walked everyday to go to the arcade, almost a mile and a half the opposite direction from the school we were going to be attending together. In Italy, we took these normal things called buses to get from point A to point B.

"Hey, sis, who's the babe?" A freakishly tall blob of muscle in a blue uniform and an orange duck-do on his head questioned Shizuru upon seeing her. I flinched away from him, horror peaking its head into my stomach. That monster couldn't be... no...

Shizuru hit him over the head, hard, sending him to the ground flailing. I stared at them, feeling sick to my stomach as Shizuru screamed at him about his incestual tendencies.

What sort of sick hell have I come to?


	2. Chapter 2

"Sorry again about that..." Kazuma grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head and leaning as far away from his older sister as he possibly could. Shizuru was glaring at him, rubbing her red knuckles. I forced a tight smile, looking down at the menu in my hands again. The cafe was small, falling in the less common path to Sarayashiki Junior High and therefore not nearly as attended as say those on the same strip as the shopping strips.

"Maybe if you paid more attention, we wouldn't have found ourselves in this position and you wouldn't have made our blood related cousin rethink coming in the first place." Shizuru snapped her menu closed, resting her hands in her lap and looking for the waiter with an annoyed expression on her face.

"So... uhm... how was your trip here? Comfortable?" Kazuma fiddled with his hands on the table, drawing my attention back up to him. Shizuru had beaten his face into a pulp, his eye blackened, his lip busted open, a gash running across his neck. I tapped my menu on the edge of the table before resting it down and folding my hands on the table as well. This was more awkward than Christmas at my great aunt's.

"It was, thank you." I nodded. "I wandered over to a different corner in order to grab a taxi, but the ride was comfortable enough. I'm a fan of airplanes, so it was nothing that required more than a book in order to ease the hours of boredom. Though I admit, I've been very lazy with reading in Japanese, so I haven't been able to navigate around as well as I would like to think that I could. I can barely keep track of all the streets we went through."

Kazuma laughed, a gravelly, irritating sound that made me flinch. I truly didn't remember this being the case when we were kids.

"What can I get you?" The waiter blessedly showed up to distract us from having to converse any further. At least for the moment.

"Could I get some tea? Chai if you have it."

"Anything else for you, miss?"

"Yes, just some rice and cakes please."

He stared at me, blinked, and just turned to Shizuru and Kazuma, asking their orders as well. I frowned. Was that an unusual order?

I glanced down at the silver bracelet on my wrist, smiling at the memories. It was strange to think that I was suddenly here with my cousins, sitting out at a cafe with real life people walking outside rather than imaginary beings wandering around with magical powers, wreaking havoc on the world that we had to correct. Reality was so normal, so boring... but at the same time so thrilling in it's own respect.

"Hey, when we get home, would you guys want to play a game?" I wondered, looking up at them. Shizuru turned her head from the retreating waiter with a look of surprise on her face. Kazuma, on the other hand, jumped on the opportunity.

"That sounds great! Do you like Pacman?"

"I love pacman, but I was thinking something more... card based."

He grinned, leaning over the table with his arm pressed against the tabletop. "Oh, you think you can beat me at a game of go fish? You are so on, little girl."

"Oh, short jokes already. Just you wait, jolly green, you have invoked war."

"Invoke... what?"

I winced, shaking my head. "What do you say, Shizuru?"

"I say only if we throw in some stakes." She grinned, tapping her cigarettes pack on her knee, preparing the tobacco out of habit. "I say that whoever loses the game has to dress up in the halloween costumes."

Kazuma's mouth dropped open, and mine followed suit.

"You wouldn't..."

"No!" I started laughing, undoubtedly drawing attention from the rest of the cafe. Shizuru grinned, leaning away from the table and tucking her cigarettes in her pocket again.

The Halloween costumes were a gathering of miscellaneous outfits we had collected since we were kids, including the mistakes of childishly sewn together pieces of colorful trash bags hippies once wore to try and replace pants. I hoped dearly that she would go so far as to push for picture proof of these costumes.

Thankfully, the rest of the meal went very decently. Kazuma apparently had a long-standing fighting relationship with Yusuke Urameshi, whom I actually remembered from childhood playdates.

"He's the one with the black hair and the disgusting obsession with the color green, right?" I walked backwards to look at Kazuma, resting my hands in my pockets. "I remember playing with him when our dads were off on their business trips."

"Yeah, but he's gotten way meaner, and a lot more arrogant." He balled up his fists, a fire blazing in his eyes. Shizuru rested her forehead in her hand, shaking her head. I bit my lip, feeling like I had started something that I couldn't stop. "And don't think that just because he's a 'bad boy' that he's someone that you can go and date! He's a punk, and he's already got a girlfriend!"

"Okay, when did this turn into a 'Gavriella is going to date the bad boy of the school' lecture?" I felt my face burning up, and turned around to keep walking, choosing to catch up with Shizuru before I turned around and walked backwards again to talk to her instead. "Shizuru, what's your opinion of Yusuke?"

"Me? I think he's a great guy, albeit a punk who wants to show the world that he's tough and doesn't care. He keeps my brother out of trouble by beating him up on a regular basis and making him stronger while he's at it. Trust me, they both need all the help they can get when it comes to their tempers. As long as they're beating on each other and that's who my brother is trying to beat instead of some loser on the street, I'm all for him."

I grinned, glancing behind me to check for cars. You can never be too safe in a foreign city.

"Either way, I don't think a boyfriend is in my best interest right now." I looked back at Kazuma. "What with my not staying here and my being here for a funeral, a boyfriend would be counterproductive."

"Good. I wouldn't approve anyway. It isn't right when Keiko is always waiting for him for him to be chasing other girls."

"You mean other girls that are' babes'?" Shizuru took her cigarette out of her mouth and blew the smoke out in a ring. I blushed again, turning around again. I'd rather try and work out my discomfort with walking forward than face the nervous wreck behind me.


	3. Chapter 3

I looked up at the picture on my wall, feeling the shadow of a smile forming. My father and my mother when I was little, my mother holding in a smile and my father touching her face. I feel like if their families weren't so strict and old fashioned, their relationship would have worked out better. I would be lying if I didn't say that I was still bitter at my grandparents on both sides for tearing them apart, and letting me grow up without my father present in my life.

Turning around, I pulled my jacket down again and let out a breath. Today was my first day of the funeral procession, which meant that officially it was three days into the funeral. Technically I should have went to the nightly procession last night, but I knew Shizuru wanted to protect me from the family for as long as possible.

I looked in the mirror, assessing my long platinum hair pulled back into a braid, practically white against the black of the dress pants, jacket and blouse. I put on a light shade of lipstick for the occasion while also putting off my inevitable descent downstairs to face my in laws. Kazuma and Shizuru had already gone downstairs with their father to give me my fair time to get ready. I didn't want to see them again, my grandmother and my grandfather. I knew I would have to deal with the snide comments of my grandmother and my grandfather ignoring my existence.

"Here goes nothing." I breathed out, opening my door and walking downstairs. Eyes turned to stare at me, half of them confused at my being there while half of them looked at me with either pity or with disdain.

I walked through the path that the distant relatives and friends of my father and his family made for me, approaching the body. I bit my lip at the closed casket, taking a deep breath.

"The accident left him nearly unrecognizable. We thought it would be less painful than to family for the casket to be left shut." My uncle rested his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and turned to hug him. He squeezed me closer before releasing me, whispering in my ear, "My parents are in the corner. Don't worry about going over to them or speaking to them; I've already talked to them."

"Thank you." I whispered, letting go and watching him move over to another member of our family that I didn't recognize, talking to them.

I looked to the coffin again, resting my hand on the top of the casket. His picture rested beside him, his brown eyes grinning out at me and his red hair pushed back. Mostly they were pictures of him at work or with friends, but I felt my eyes watering at a sight I wasn't aware that would ever be at his funeral.

The picture was of him and me when I was five and starting school. I swallowed, biting my lip. His arms were around me, his chin resting on my shoulder while he leaned onto my level. I was grinning at the camera, a small tooth missing from my mouth. We were so different; the only similarity was that I had a mediterranean tan that was similar to his natural Japanese complexion. I wanted to jump into the picture and travel back in time to that moment and tell him how much he meant to me. I wanted him to understand how much I loved him and how much he influenced me from my childhood years. I was overwhelmed with nostalgia, and felt like crying. It was overwhelming.

Shizuru rested her hand on my shoulder, following me down to the floor as I sank to give my respects to him, her warmth spreading through my torso comfortingly. I held onto her hand, my tears threatening to spill over.

"You need anything, Gav?"

I shook my head, closing my eyes and bowing my head. The world was shaking, and I felt my body crumbling away starting from my insides.

"I never got to say goodbye."

Shizuru gripped onto me, pulling me close to her. I could barely feel her arms around me, everything going numb inside of me. I wanted to say something else, anything else to convey my thanks for her being there for me, for not leaving me alone to deal with this myself.

"If it isn't the bastard."

I flinched, wishing that my uncle had also kept her away from me. I looked up at the old woman standing above me. I could barely see her through the tears I knew were streaming down my face, but I knew she was glowering disapprovingly at me.

"Isn't it a little childish to cry like a child on the ground when you have family to talk to? If you aren't going to stay, why don't you just leave?" She touched her son's casket, red flashing through my vision at the motion.

"My father just died, ma'am. Forgive me for grieving the way that I need to grieve." I looked down again, my heart pounding in my chest. I just wanted her to leave me alone. "Please, I need time."

"He was MY son. I raised him, brought him up. And how does he repay me? By giving me a grandchild out of wedlock with a woman who wasn't fit for him to begin with. You chose to leave him here alone, childless despite his desire to be a father. I could have forgiven you if you had simply stayed here. However, you decided that a leaving your father to die thinking that his child despised him. You gave up your right to grieve the day you left his house."

Shizuru tightened her grip on me, and said something that I couldn't hear. Thankfully, whatever it was, it made her leave me alone. I could feel her heels clicking as she walked away from us, leaving us on the ground. She was right. I left him alone. I never got to tell him that I loved him. The last memory I had of him was three months prior, when I called him for his birthday. We talked for over an hour, laughing and sharing jokes, making promises that I would come and visit him in the summer to stay for a few weeks. They never came to fruition, and some part of me knew he died thinking that I would not follow through with our promises. Here I was, left alone with my family around me that I no longer knew, no longer recognized. Without my father with me.

"Honey, we're taking him out to be buried." Shizuru whispered. I looked up, appalled that I barely got any time and horrified that according to the clock I had been on the ground for three hours. I let her help me up, staring at the face of the clock, the archenemy that was stealing time too fast. We drove to the burial site, me standing on one side and Shizuru, Kazuma, their father and my grandparents standing on the other. It was customary for the immediate family to stand on one side and the children and spouses to stand on the other. It gave me no comfort as I stood alone to watch him as he was lowered into the ground. I bet the old witch was just gloating about that from her place with her respective family. I could feel her glaring at me, but I gave her no satisfaction as I picked up the shovel I was offered. I hoped it offended the hell out of her to have her bastard granddaughter shoveling the first bit of dirt on her son's grave. It was my custom from my world, and I hoped in the back of my mind as I honored my father that it was eating her up inside.

"Do you have any last words to offer?" The priest questioned me, accepting the shovel from me as the gravediggers began their work.

I looked at him, frowning. "The ceremony is over; everyone is leaving."

"Just because the family is gone does not mean your words are finished." He touched my shoulder. My shoulder seemed to be the favorite and most accessible body part today. "If it offers you any comfort, I can stay here with you while you say your goodbyes."

"Thank you father, but if it's all the same, I want to say them alone." I forced my tone to be polite. I knew he was only doing what a decent human being would do, but I needed to be by myself. It was more than kind of him to offer, and I nodded to him as he turned to leave, giving me one last comforting smile. And then it was just me and the fresh pile of dirt in front of me, the cars pulling away. When I could no longer feel her glare on me, I turned to my father's grave and knelt down, no longer caring if the outfit was getting dirty, or if I would step on something. "Hey dad. Long time no see."

I pulled my knees up to my chest, watching the wind blow the flowers left behind to brighten up his grave. Graves in Japan were more enclosed, less personal. I was surrounded by stone everywhere; there was nothing natural about this place other than the ground he was buried in.

"Mom wanted me to give you this." I pulled out a small letter, resting it by his headstone. "She asked me not to read it, but I guess I got my curiosity from you. She regrets that you two weren't strong enough to handle your families, and that she never once blamed you for the way things turned out. I don't either. I don't blame you or her for the arrogance of my grandparents. I know I shouldn't say these things, but I can't help it. I know who was to blame for you two being separated."

I looked down at my knees, playing with the bracelet on my wrist. The bracelet he gave me right before I had to leave.

"I was looking forward to performing for you. You didn't know it, but when I came down to visit you in the summer, I was going to be joining a group of young women from my college that are going to be putting on a display for a tournament. Our finals are being held here in Japan, and if the competition is anything like last year, there's no doubt we're going to finals. I wanted you to see me dance live, like you always wanted to." I felt the tears coming, and a sob escaped my lips. I tried holding it back, but I knew that dad wouldn't judge me for crying. "I wanted you to see me dance, dad. I wanted to show you how hard you taught me to work, how well mom did raising me the last few years. Dad, I missed you so much, and I love you. Please, you have to know how much I loved you, how much I still do. I just wanted to be together with you one last time..."

I rested my head in my knees, feeling the world crashing down again. I bunched up my hand in the dirt as I cried, trying to feel any part of him that I could, imagining his arms around me and making myself believe that, just for a moment, he could hear me.

That my world was going to be alright. It had to be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for the reviews and the support! I will try and update as quickly as possible, you are all amazing!**

"Kazuma! Get up and get dressed!" I yelled up the stairs, slathering jam onto a second piece of toast. Getting up at seven was nothing compared to five, just to go to dance class. I couldn't understand why it was so hard for my cousin to get up in the morning.

I smoothed down my skirt, walking into the living room and checking out of my window. The news said to expect rain, but so far it was sunny and beautiful outside. An umbrella wouldn't hurt.

"Look, I'm up and dressed and ready. You don't even have your sash on yet." Kazuma skipped the last step on the stairs and stopped, staring at the toast. "Did you seriously try and make breakfast?"

"That depends; are you going to say something that will deny you access to your breakfast?" I grabbed the sash off of the back of the couch, looping it through the back of my collar.

"Nope, it looks great!" He grabbed the toast off of the counter with a self-conscious grin my way.

"Then I did indeed try and make breakfast." I gave up attempting to tie the stupid sash and walked up to Kazuma, looking up at him and feeling my pride sinking with every inch I had to look up. "I can't tie the sash... help me."

Kazuma snorted, taking the ends and tying the middle with the purple string. I frowned, touching the yellow piece of fabric and looking up at him again.

"Do I want to know?"

"I have an older sister who made me help her with clothes shopping as a punishment." He shoved the toast in his mouth, grabbing his school bag and wandering to the door. "You might want to get your shoes on or we're going to be late."

I grabbed my piece of toast and shoved it in my mouth so I could put on my shoes, hopping after the giant and taking an actual bite out of it on the way, spinning so I could walk backwards just in front of him. "What's your first class?"

"We start with English, go to science, a free hour, history, lunch and math to end the day. It's a pretty lame way to start end the day if you ask me. Luckily today is my busiest day, whereas tomorrow I get an easier schedule. Mainly a focus on English and history." He frowned and held out his hand to take my book bag. I smiled at him, handing it over and stretching my arms. "Say, why are you coming to school with me anyway? I thought you would be heading back home after the funeral."

I shrugged, thinking back to my discussion with my mother. "I had a fight with my dance teacher before I left. She was insistent that I miss the funeral to go to a dance competition."

He stopped dead, staring at me with shocked expression. "No freaking way."

"As you can imagine, my mouth got the better of me. My mother and I discussed the possibility of my coming to school here since my dance studio is no longer an option for me, and it would provide me with a better education. I was already prepared to study abroad, so this was an opportune time. My mom made the plans with your dad yesterday, actually, so it was kind of last minute. I'm sorry..."

"No! I mean, you know, it would have been nice to know in advance... we could have, like, had a party or something. You know, welcome you to the house the right way instead of cooking plain rice and watching that chick flick. A real welcoming is a party, with lots of junk food and stuff." He continued the traipse to school, flipping his bookbag over his shoulder and treating mine with a little more respect.

"How about tonight we have a real welcome to the house party." I grinned, glancing behind me to make sure there was no traffic.

Kazuma nodded his approval, falling into a stern silence. This must be his tough guy act for when we came up on the school, otherwise known as his 'turf'. I rolled my eyes, turning around and walking straight into someone's chest. A hand caught my arm firmly when I pulled back, probably assuming I was falling backwards. I blushed, looking up at the brown haired boy in the pale blue uniform. He immediately let go of me, bowing politely.

"Sorry, miss. You must be Kuwabara's cousin. I'm Komada, a friend of Kuwabara's from school." I smiled, bowing to him as well.

"I'm Gavriella. Call me Ella. I will be attending the high school here as of today."

"Now this is a guy that'll stick with you, cous." Kazuma slapped his friend's back, and launched into a loud discussion about how they had a lot of work to do starting tomorrow. I rolled my eyes and fell behind them, staring up at the school that now belonged to me. Kazuma and Komada bid me farewell, promising to pick me up after their classes in the middle school were finished. Now I got to go alone into a class that I transferred into halfway through the school year.

The truth? My mom was sick too.

It wasn't the kind of sick that was easily fixed through medicine, but not the kind of sick that was going to kill her either. At least not yet. My mom had lost it when my father died, spiraling into a depression. She said she needed to be alone, but she didn't want to leave us alone. She thought it was best for me to stay with family during the time, and stayed home for her last few weeks of work before she started her get-well program. I didn't mind; I loved my mother, but I knew from the way that I was that time away was the best option. In my heart, Japan had always been my home, whereas my mother needed to go where she felt the most home. I came to live with my cousins while my two older brothers, already in college, were keeping an eye on the house so she could travel. We all encouraged it when she hit the bottom, convinced her that this time was necessary so she could function. She worked too hard to try and stay happy despite it all, and even she needed a vacation.

I could never tell my cousins this; knowing them, they would get defensive of me and try and comfort me when in all reality I was worried but more comfortable than I had been in years. They wouldn't understand.

This school was my new place of learning, and after school I would walk around the city to regain my bearings on the place I grew up in. I wanted to join a dance academy if possible, though I had resigned to the fact that I would probably be practicing on my own until the summer when I could join fresh into an academy that wouldn't be offended to have a foreigner amongst them. Next to anyone here I would stand out like a sore thumb, which usually meant that I had no chance or the best chance in the world.

I was forced to introduce myself to my class, which was a barrel of fun. I got mocked in my first ten minutes for being a grain of rice in a fruits basket, which I thought was VERY original, and mocked in the next three for my stumbling with reading Japanese. Never let it be said that the smartest high schoolers in the world aren't all assholes.

"You look like you're ready to throw yourself out the window." A girl next to me smiled. I glanced behind me, not sure if this apparition was real or not. "Don't worry; not all of us are so immature. No offense, I'm just glad now they're picking on something other than my scars."

I took in the scarring I had missed on her neck and face. She was a very pretty girl otherwise, with pale skin and deep black hair that almost looked blue. She touched the scars self consciously and looked down.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind; I'm pretty used to bullying. I grew up with brothers, so verbal assault is a skill I have mastered over the years." I offered her a part of my granola bar, which she politely declined.

"So how are you liking Japan so far?"

"I actually grew up here, so it's like coming home after a long trip." I nodded, leaning back in my seat. Apparently the free hour had started, since none of the other students were taking notes or reading, and our teacher was doodling something in his notebook. "What do you do for fun?"

"I read, but most people like to go to the arcade or the shopping center. Are you thinking of joining any clubs?" She took a bite of some rice that she pulled out of her bag.

"I was hoping to join a dance studio, actually. I used to belong to Lera May's school of Dance."

She looked surprised, but nodded her understanding. "We don't have a dance club here, but you could always ask the administrators at Meiou High School if you could join their dance team."

"I'll do that."

She smiled again, and turned back to her notebook, studying her notes while I decided to try and brush up on my reading. I took out my Italian to English dictionary and tried to make an attempt to study, but the words kept flowing together.

To say the least, school became a living hell when we had an impromptu quiz at the end of the day for my history class. I tried my best, but when the teacher informed me that I was the last person and that he needed to get going, I had to beg him to give me the rest of the test orally. I could speak just fine, fluently even, but I could not wrap my head around the words under pressure from my peers or the pressure from homework, which was even worse.

Kazuma, as promised, met me out front when I came out the doors. I was surprised; he would have had to ditch on the last part of his class in order to come and get me in time. I smiled at him regardless, thankful to see a familiar face after the day I had, and wrapped my arms around him.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." I murmured, noting how tense he was but pleased that he gave me a hug in return.

"Cuz, we don't hug in Japan." He muttered when we pulled away, blushing. I glanced at his friends behind him, smiling and ignoring my cousin.

"Hello, my name is Gavriella Kuwabara, Kazuma's cousin from Italy. I will be staying here in Japan for the foreseeable future. Please, call me Ella. I hope we can all be friends." I bowed, playing along with my niceties.

"I am Okubo." The shorter of the three bowed to me, a blush on his cheeks, and the taller one with the buzz cut bowed too, grinning.

"Sawamura. It's good to finally meet you."

"We're going to the arcade; you want to come with?" Kazuma held out his hand for my bag, which I accepted and began to walk backwards in front of them to keep pace.

"I don't have a choice when you kidnapped my school bag."

Okubo stared at me, and looked at Kazuma, probably under the assumption that I couldn't hear. "Why is your cousin walking backwards dude?"

"We have no idea; she's always done it. We're not really sure she knows she does it."

I blushed, looking at my feet and stopping. "It's comfortable..."


	5. Chapter 5

_**I'm sorry for the delay in updating! Thank you so much for all of the reviews! I am excited to hear what you think as the story continues! Have a great Easter and a wonderful weekend!**_

"Was school any better today?" Kuwabara took my book bag from me, walking with me toward home so we could get some studying in before he took me to Meiou High School. The administrative office had offered to meet with me around five o'clock to talk about working me into the dance team. I was nervous, but school work needed to come first.

"Not really, no. That girl I told you about yesterday, Mako, let me sit with her at lunch, though, so at least I didn't have to eat sitting on the floor again. While that usually doesn't bother me, I don't particularly care for the other children tossing things at me." I looked down at my dress shoes while we walked, staring at the shine and the ankle socks that were part of my uniform, trying to think of anything but my meeting. "I'm so nervous."

"Cous, I've seen videos of your dance recitals that your mom sends us once in a while. If they don't accept you into their program they're a bunch of idiots!" He nodded to himself, assured that he was absolute in his thinking. I nodded along, my nerves still kicking. It wouldn't do me any good to worry about it now, but that didn't stop them.

Kazuma joined me in my room for some studying, getting started immediately on showing me the alphabet. I had a sufficient headache ten minutes into the session, but I was seeing where many of my mistakes were being made. I was mistaking over half of my alphabet when I was reading. Of course, this didn't help my recognition of half of the letters on sight, since my brain was so used to reading them all wrong. At least with a few sessions I would hopefully be able to read at a fifth grade level without a headache.

Gods but I am dumb.

"You're not gonna get any better just sitting there you know." I looked up from my position with my head laying on my crossed arms, irritated beyond all belief.

"I can't focus, Kazuma. Can we take a break? I'm at a point where I feel like I can't do anything, and self-pity never got anyone anywhere." I rested my eyes down on my arm again, breathing out. Why couldn't Latin still be a universal language?

"Maybe you'd be able to focus better if you were actually sleeping at night."

"How do you know that?" I jerked upwards, feeling my face getting warm.

"Because I'm not dumb. You haven't slept in the week you've been here. It wasn't a good idea to start school right away after the funeral; you should've given yourself some time to recover instead of pacing around your room all night."

I blushed harder, staring at my alphabet again.

"So how about we keep practicing this, every night, and you start sleeping and then we can talk about what you can and can't do once you see the progress that's being made."

"You're too good to me, cous." I moved my head to touch his arm, and was pleased that he didn't move away this time. It seemed he was getting used to my lovey nature after a week of dealing with me.

"You're just too smart to get down on yourself like this. That's all. You're gonna be fine once you get the hang of things here." Kazuma pat my head, a little rough for my taste, but I ignored it and looked back to the paper.

I was relieved and anxious when my alarm went off, signaling that it was time for me to meet the administrators at Meiou high school. I ushered my cousin out of the room so I could change into a nice black skirt and a white long sleeve button up. I kept the school shoes, deciding that they were the nicest shoes I owned. I touched my ponytail, deciding on putting it in a bun rather than leaving the ends of my hair down so they would get in my face if I had to move around or dance for them. I smoothed my skirt down and breathed out, walking out to meet Kazuma, who had changed into jeans and a jacket. I grabbed my sweater and moved in front of him, walking backwards.

He talked about the fight he got into when he skipped class today on the way to the school. I listened to him explain to me the way that four middle schoolers from another school had come to his territory expecting the fight to be easy, going into detail about the gruesome layout he and his friends had given the boys. It didn't take my mind off of my nerves, but it was interesting and I appreciated the story nonetheless. I was starting to see the rebel that Shizuru had dealt with all these years.

"You want me to come in with you?"

"No." I closed my eyes, turning to face the school. "I don't want to keep you from your friends tonight."

"You know the way home?"

"I have the directions you gave me and the address memorized in case I need help." I hugged him, forcing a smile that he returned. I loved the way that his smiles reached his eyes. He really was a gentle soul.

I walked into the school, looking around at the hallways. My headache had hit a point where I didn't want to have anything to do with reading a language that made me want to throw a chair against a glass window. I wandered down the first hallway to my left, following the way I would in my school. Eventually I had to pass either a student or a teacher, right? But this was also why I had shown up early, so I could be on time to my meeting.

I wandered through most of the left hand of the bottom half of the school when I heard a locker closing. I sped up my pace and turned the corner, shocked at what I saw. There was a red haired boy talking to a teacher, waving to him as he walked away before he turned and saw me, surprise in his emerald eyes. I had never seen anyone Japanese with blood-red hair and green eyes. I felt my face heating up, embarrassed that I was staring and disbelieving at how... beautiful this boy was. Damn, I was getting hormonal lately.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the administrative office is? I have a meeting today with the principal of this school as well as one of the coaches." I bowed, looking back up at him again. He was a great deal taller than me, which wasn't much of a surprise, and he kept a guard around his eyes as he smiled at me. Maybe I bowed too quickly?

"You're from Sarayashiki High School, aren't you? There was a rumor running through the school this afternoon that the dance instructor was meeting with someone from a rival high school to audition her for the team." He bowed. "My name is Shuichi Minamino, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Ella. The pleasure is all mine."

I smiled, and Shuichi gestured for me to follow him. "It's just down this hallway here."

I followed after him, glancing around the school. "You have a beautiful facility here. It's far nicer than in my high school." I made awkward conversation, turning around and walking ahead of him backwards so we could have a conversation.

His steps faltered a moment before he continued his pace, smiling at me with that same polite smile. "We are blessed to have such a wonderful facility to practice and study in."

I watched his body turn slightly, as if he was warning me that we were going to be turning around a hallway shortly and that I needed to follow so that I didn't hit the wall. I followed his movements, watching the wall out of the corner of my eye. Shuichi seemed amused at my awareness, and stopped in front of a doorway.

"This is the administrative office, Ms. Ella. Best of luck with your audition."

I felt my mouth turning upward into a grin, and I bowed to him again, turning and opening the door, taking a deep breath before I suffocated from nerves. I had been to countless auditions for parts in Lera May's, but never like this. This was a different country, a different group of people, different expectations that I had no idea if I was experienced enough to meet.

I stopped in front of a door that light was shining through, taking a breath again before knocking.

"Come in, Ms. Kuwabara."

I entered, facing the three teachers who were staring at me with surprisingly kind faces. I swallowed, sitting down in the seat they signaled to.

"We understand that you wish to join our dance team." The man on the left stated, and I assumed that he must be the principal. The woman and the younger man both looked to him with respect in their faces, and he carried himself in a way that was very assured without being arrogant. Such a nice change of pace.

"That is correct sir. It was decided amongst my family that I would be staying here in Japan for the foreseeable future, so I was unable to send in my request any earlier. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

He smiled at me and nodded, looking to the woman on his right.

"It's perfectly alright dear. I'm afraid that due to your late application, we will not be able to fit you into the competitive dance team, which is what you were undoubtedly trying for, but if you are qualified I would be more than happy to put you into the school's dance team until you are able to audition at the next semester."

"Thank you for this opportunity." I bowed my head, my breath coming quicker than I would have preferred.

I answered their questions, giving them my oral resume of my history with dance and my achievements. The woman, Mrs. Tanaka, seemed pleased with what I had to say, while the principal and vice principal both watched the process take place, more of witnesses than actual judges of my skill and qualification. It was a relief and a nightmare when I was ushered to the gymnasium to show my skill with a piece from Tchaikovsky, most likely to be "Dance of the Swans". I had played Odette in my studio's rendition, so I was not particularly worried when she informed me that I would not have to perform perfectly, as I did not have ballet slippers, nor proper clothing for the part.

I glanced to my left as the music started and I took my position, startled by the figure looming there. Whoever it was, they were unnoticed by Mrs. Tanaka, and I did not have time enough to point him out. I was sure it was a young man, but I could not see anything distinguishable before I began my performance, only that he was of small stature and thin framed. What unnerved me was that I swear I saw a flash of red before I lost myself in the music. This was too important to be distracted by hallucinations.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm sorry this update took so long; there was a lot going on that was out of my control. I am back, however, and I hope that you like what is to come. Please leave a review with any advice, comments, or suggestions! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

"So you're the Yusuke Urameshi I have been hearing so much about." I smiled, bowing to him. "My name is Ella. I am Kazuma's older cousin. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Yusuke looked me up and down, bending at the waist and lowering his face to mine in contemplation.

"You sure you're older? No offense, but you're kind of... little. Like a kid or something."

"You're charming." I forced a smile, stepping hard on Kazuma's foot when he laughed at me. "Kaeko informed me that you love skipping school as well as picking fights. I see why you and Kazuma get on so well."

"Well?!" They both flew away from me, and away from each other, the same sides of a magnet repelled by one another's identical nature.

"Don't be so surprised. You both have the same shine in your eyes, the same determination to be the best and beat on the ones that hurt people weaker than them. You're both too big-hearted of people to not get on, even if it means fighting and bickering like a married couple."

I moved to Kaeko as they launched into an argument, who was staring at Yusuke with a look of sadness. I recognized that look from every time that my mother talked to my father. It was a look of detachment, one that comes from trying to let the person they love live their own life while trying to keep them in a state of happiness. I nudged her, smiling at her.

"Maybe we should all go and see a movie?"

"Yes, that sounds great! There's this great foreign art film playing right now."

"Yeah, that sounds great." Yusuke flinched, stopping his bickering with Kazuma to face his girlfriend, who looked excited for the first time since I had been introduced to the boy. I encouraged her by taking her arm and walking in front of the group to walk backwards with her, listening to her go on about this film. I honestly wasn't terribly interested, but I was glad to see her smiling and excited, and going to a movie was better than going home to study reading.

"You know, I just forgot that I have to run to the store a minute."

I turned to stare at Yusuke, freezing at the size of the bug that was on his shoulder. I had been seeing a few of these bugs flying around all day, but I didn't want to say anything because no one else seemed to mind them. Was this a normal occurrence?

"And Kuwabara has to come with me." Yusuke pulled my cousin to his side and ran off, promising that he would be back shortly. I didn't really believe him, and I doubted that Kaeko did either.

"Hey, at least now we can spend some time just us, right?" I joked, smiling at her.

"Right." She smiled at me, but I could see the confusion and anger in her eyes that Yusuke had ditched her so soon after getting back, and without a real explanation. "I haven't gotten any real girl time in a while."

I smiled, listening to her talk about school while we got some popcorn and wandered into the mostly empty movie theater. We saved the boys a seat just in case, but we both knew it was futile.

I admit it; I fell asleep half an hour into the film. It was quite possibly the most boring foreign film I had ever seen, mostly just subtitles and walking around a countryside. I startled awake at a scream, glaring at the woman on screen who had screamed at a tree falling. I rubbed my eyes, praying Kaeko didn't notice. I was lucky she didn't notice me sleeping.

"That scared me too." She whispered with a smile. I nodded, forcing a smile back and making myself watch the rest of the movie mimicking her reactions out of the corner of my eye. I found my thoughts wandering back to the red haired boy that was at the school yesterday, wondering if I would see him again soon. Mrs. Tanaka had been impressed with my performance, informing me that she resented that she could not put me in the competitive team, which flattered me immensely. I was just glad to be dancing again soon.

With going to the high school a few days a week, it was going to be difficult not to run into him again. The boy with the cold eyes and the elusive smile...

"Don't you think?" I was jerked back to reality, wincing as my brain caught up with the bright lights in the theater. I blushed, realizing that Kaeko was expecting an answer that I couldn't give her.

"I'm sorry, Kaeko. I was lost in thought a moment. What were you saying?"

She frowned, but nodded, seeming to understand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." I stood up, moving out of the row of seats so we could escape this place without the expectation of having to watch anything else while we were already here.

"Do you think Yusuke and Kuwabara ditched on us because they didn't want to watch the movie, or because Yusuke has something better to do than spend time with me?" I whipped around to look at her, walking backwards directly in front of her and frowning. "I know it sounds childish, but ever since he... well... he got in that accident, he's been more and more secretive. It's like he doesn't want me in that part of his life, and it hurts that he wants that."

"Kaeko, even I can see that Yusuke is head over heels for you. I'm sure they were just afraid of falling asleep in the theater and hurting your feelings. He'll be back soon, I'm sure of it."

She nodded again, looking down at her feet. Making people feel better didn't seem to be a Kuwabara family specialty. I looked overhead, watching the bugs flittering around the area. I flinched when one came near me, a sickness in my stomach at the sight of them. Kaeko glanced at me, frowning. How was she not uncomfortable at the sight of them all? No way was a girly girl like her alright with bugs flying all around her like this.

"Hey, I have to head over to the junior high school to finish up my student council work for tomorrow. Will you be okay finding your way home, or would you like to come with me so I can show you more of the city?"

I met her eyes again, forcing a smile. "You do what you need. I'll find my way back to the house just fine. Thank you for hanging out with me today!"

She smiled at me, and nodded. I stopped walking, watching her as she walked past me. I glanced around, trying to figure out where I was without getting a headache. I recognized the shopping center, but I didn't recognize where I was within the shopping center. I had never been to the movie theater, but I figured that if I found the arcade I would be able to find my way home. There was no guarantee, but hopefully I would be able to remember the way Kazuma walked with his friends.

This "Genkai" that Kazuma and Yusuke were talking about sounded intense, and somehow familiar. From what Kazuma had told me, she was a no-nonsense type of woman, someone who could shed some light on just what it was that ran in our family. Kazuma said he had gone to talk to her about his ability to sense ghosts and spirits, something that was a common occurrence between my cousins and I. I felt almost obligated to go and talk to her, like something in me needed to meet her in order to control something wild and uncontrolled raging inside of me. Something that I feared I would be unable to control once it found it's way to the surface.

Maybe Shizuru would be able to tell me more about this woman when I got home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you kshepps27 for bringing the weird coding to my attention. I'm sorry for that inconvenience, I don't know what happened with that... I hope this fixes the problem. Please enjoy the rest from here!**

"Kaeko!" I screamed, leaping forward and shoving her out of the way of the teacher bringing a pair of scissors down on her. There was a stinging pain that was swiftly followed by a blue haired woman yanking me to my feet, dragging me down the hallway and pushing me into a room. Kaeko pushed my hair back from my face, and I realized the tears streaming from my eyes.

I looked to my shoulder, my stomach churning at the sight of my ripped uniform, the blood soaking down my arm and the ends of dying flesh where my nerves were exposed. The pain set in, and I felt dizzy. Kaeko turned my head back from my injury, attempting to distract me from it as Botan inspected me.

"This injury runs deeply. Ella, you'll need to bite down on something so you don't attract too much attention. I'm so sorry for this."

Before I could question anything, Kaeko had shoved a piece of cloth into my mouth, and just in time as Botan pressed something against my shoulder. I tried not to scream, but the pressure elicited that very reaction, and I clamped my teeth down tightly on the cloth in my mouth, more hot tears finding their way down my cheeks. It hurt like hell, but anything was better than letting the injury get infected at this point.

"Ella?" I released the cloth from my mouth to Kaeko, blinking up at them.

"Thank goodness, you weren't responding there at all! I was afraid you'd gone comatose." Botan took my good arm, pulling me to my feet. My stomach churned, but I steadied myself against her to gain my footing. I would be damned if I made it this far only to have someone have to carry me all the way through this bloody school.

I shook my head, looking down at my arm. I must have blacked out a little when the pain hit, because Botan had successfully wrapped my entire arm tightly across my body so it was immovable, with a thick gauze keeping my shoulder from bleeding out. She probably wouldn't have gotten that far had I not fazed out for a short while. Maybe our natural reactions know a thing or two after all.

"Yukimura! Be a good girl and receive your punishment Yukimura!" The teacher's voice called out, the door shaking from the bodies piling and pounding against it. I glanced behind us, and looked about the room. There was no room for escape without having Botan and Kaeko climb out the second story window, and neither looked like they would be useful after a two story drop.

"Well, we'd better think quickly." Botan helped me stand up, much to my pride's dismay.

Kaeko jerked her sash out of her uniform and shoved it between the cabinet doors against the opposite wall, thinking on her feet, and Botan touched her nose once, both of us following her to the window and hiding behind the curtain, out of the way of the door. Kaeko and Botan each picked up something to use as a weapon, so I gripped onto a mop to join in, pulling it behind the curtain with us. I breathed in deeply through my nose and out through my mouth, attempting to control the pain. With every heartbeat, my shoulder throbbed. I was still fine to move around, and with my arm completely bound to my body I wouldn't be causing much more damage to it, but that didn't quell the pain.

It seemed like such a blur of how I got into this mess. One minute I was walking home, and the next I was being attacked on the street. The blue haired woman, Botan, had come in and saved me, briefly explaining to me that their was a virus being spread around the city and that there were too many infected civilians on the street. It was sketchy, but when she mentioned that Kaeko was a current target, I went against my better judgement and followed the sketchy woman to the school. It seemed like a lifetime ago in this exact moment, and I still wasn't any closer to getting any answers. Somehow, it just didn't seem like the right time to ask too many questions. If we all got out of this alive, this woman would have a lot of explaining to do, but first we had to STAY alive.

I held my breath upon hearing the shattering glass on the door, damning my heartbeat with every pump of blood coursing through me. The footsteps coming in were quiet for a pack of murderous teachers, and the silence ensuing made my skin freeze. They had to be looking around for them to stay so quiet for so long. I covered my mouth and nose to stay quiet and to calm my breathing as a voice rang out with laughter, deep and menacing.

"Yukimura, I always knew you weren't as smart as you made us think." There was the sound of wood clinking against the stone wall, and Kaeko's face hardened in determination. They had fallen for the bait. "Hid yourself well, didn't you? Except for one thing. Your scarf."

The rest of the teachers began laughing with the crazy leader, and I gripped my mop tightly, focusing on the laughter and the timing to distract myself from my injury. I felt like such a baby about it, but every movement felt like Kazuma was bodyslamming me, and he was not a small guy.

"I warned you to stay away from Urameshi, but it's too late. You're damaged. And now we throw you out!"

There was a sound like metal being beaten on, and I watched carefully as Botan and Kaeko readied themselves. Since I couldn't see, I relied on their body language to tell me when it was go-time. Kaeko needed to get out of this school, and we needed to put as much distance as possible between us and these teachers. We had to.

It felt like an eternity with them banging the hell out of that supply cupboard, making absolutely sure that the pretend Kaeko inside was never going to breath again. It was sickening. Virus or not, how could someone who had sworn to protect the minds of our youth and guide them into adulthood commit such a heinous act against one of the children in their care? It didn't make any sense. What could have caused this?

At the sound of the doors opening, we burst out of our hiding place and began our assault. I took out two of the teachers off to the right while the girls laid siege upon the ones in the middle. Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Japenese school girl.

We bolted from the room once we had taken out just enough of them to put a dent in their numbers, making our way through the complicated hallways that all looked the same. I held onto my arm to keep it stabilized, giving my full attention to finding an exit. It was oddly the most difficult task so far. We didn't pass a single staircase, nor an adjoining hallway that would lead us somewhere other than this limbo we were caught in. The footsteps pounding behind us gave us all the more reason to keep running, and his voice rang out over the noise somehow. Whoever he was, he was only increasing my irritation with this situation. Why wouldn't he just lose consciousness or something?

"You can't run forever, Yukimura!"

'What the hell did you do to piss them off, Kaeko?' I thought. The hallway turned to the right, blessedly, but before I could feel hope rise that we might actually make it out of here, the sound of metal hitting bone rang out. Botan collapsed, and Kaeko barely managed to catch her, holding her body close. The teacher holding the lead pipe only grinned, and moved closer. I stood in front of Kaeko protectively, kicking the teacher with all of my might and forcing the pipe from his grip. Any weapon was better than no weapon at all.

Sweat dripped down my forehead as Kaeko tried to wake up Botan, and I kept my eyes trained on the swarm around us. I had never seen so many people that genuinely wanted us dead. Something about the joy in their bloodshot eyes, the lust for her blood, made me nauseous. I tried not to let my fear show, gripping the pipe and taking a swing at one of the teachers that came too close, tears threatening to fall at the sound of it connecting with him. Damn the natural reaction to cry. Damn it to hell. I can't give that satisfaction right now!

"Run... away..." Botan moaned.

At her words, something in me snapped. What the hell was she thinking? That after all of this, we would be content to leave her to the mercy of this mob?!

"I can't just leave you." Kaeko insisted, cradling her head in her lap. I swung out my pipe again, getting angry. I could feel my fear boiling, mixing with the fury that was bubbling close to the surface.

"The community comes together when it's important, see, and correcting bad girls is very important."

I whipped around and lunged without thinking about it, slamming my body into him and sending him to the ground. He growled, and stabbed his scissors deep into my back. I didn't feel anything, only coldness as he threw me off, standing up and focusing his attention on Kaeko again. It just felt... cold. I could hear something in the background, and it vaguely sounded like Kaeko's scream, but I was too much in shock to really understand. I was... numb.

This was so dumb.

Not only was I useless... but I couldn't even protect... them...


	8. Chapter 8

"There she is."

I opened my eyes, cursing under my breath at the light that blinded me. Someone touched my hair, and I glanced up to see the blurry shape of my older cousin. I blinked a few times, clearing my vision and focusing on her.

"Shit!" I bolted for the door, but the second my feet hit the ground I was on the floor, Shizuru cursing behind me and someone else gripping my arm to help her get me up. A burst of grey swarmed my vision, friendly and persistent, and a blast of electric honey gold sliced through it as another arm grabbed me, dotting my vision in a sickening mix of both colors. It took me by surprise, and I shook them off, staring up into pink eyes. What the hell was that? "Botan? What... you were-"

"We're safe. Kaeko and I are both fine. How are you, Ella? You took some fine blows back there." Botan looked genuinely worried, which threw me. We only just met a few... hours ago? How long had I been out? "You've been asleep for four hours now."

"You're lucky to be conscious, Gav." Shizuru gripped my elbow again, and this time I let her pull me up, shutting my eyes hard against that same blast of honey gold. It made me sick, but I knew better than to resist her twice, and took her kindness while she was still offering it. She had beat up Kazuma just enough in my time here for me to get the picture of her what her patience would allow and what would make it snap in two. I don't think I could take one of her lessons in manners in my current state.

I let her put me on the bed, relishing the full view of my room rather than color, and yanked down the sleeve of my shirt to inspect the injury on my shoulder, my stomach dropping again at the sight of smooth, flawless skin where the gash once was. I looked at my hand, flexing it experimentally, darting my hand to where there was once a large hole near my spine. There was nothing but that same smooth skin and painless reach to touch where the wound was. I stared up at Botan with accusation in my eyes. This game was getting old, and my patience was not much better than my cousin's.

Botan bit her lip, looking at me with pleading eyes. She glanced in Shizuru's direction, eyes widening at her threatening gaze.

"Tell me what happened. I heard Kaeko's side, about the teachers going crazy, and Botan's ridiculous story about being in the wrong place at the right time crap. What's your side of the story?" She sat next to me, ignoring Botan defending her story, adamant about her side. She was full of it.

"I was coming home and I ran into Botan on my way here. She told me that half of the city was suffering some kind of virus that messed with their minds, and that for some reason they were targeting Kaeko, so I followed her to see if her story had any validity, and to rescue Kaeko if it did." I crossed my arms, glaring at the blue haired woman. "How did you know they were targeting Kaeko, Botan? And how did you know who I was?"

"I'm friends with Kuwabara and Yusuke. Kuwabara talks about you quite a lot. There aren't many young women in Japan who match your description." She grinned, rubbing the back of her head nervously. I had seen the same tick in hundreds of anime throughout my lifetime. Was Japan really just one big stereotype?

"And how did you heal me up? Do you have special powers or something?"

"Heal you?" She added laughter to her suspicious behavior, waving her other hand rapidly in front of her. "There's no such thing as healing powers, you silly goose. Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because I was _stabbed? Twice_?"

"Woah, what?" Shizuru whipped her head around to glare at Botan. "My cousin was stabbed? And you thought this was information that was fine to leave out?"

"There was a mishap at the school, yes, but I wouldn't quite say 'stabbed' was the right word for it." She explained quickly, lowering her hands and taking a step back. "When we were attacked by the sick teachers, Ella stepped in front of Kaeko valiantly to take the blow, but there was a lot of blood for how minor the injury really was. We were scared, and we wrapped her up to make sure she didn't bleed out, but it was nothing serious. I didn't want to scare anyone by making a mountain out of a molehill."

"Minor? Seriously? If it was so minor, how do you explain this?" I pointed to my shoulder.

"Yeah Botan, where is this injury that was bleeding everywhere?" Shizuru examined my shoulder, and the lack of an injury, before staring back at Botan.

The woman was frozen in shock, looking like someone had just tossed her in the middle of an icy lake. I almost felt bad for her, but I was too mad to let that 'almost' tip the scales in her favor by dropping the subject. She was grasping at straws to try and come up with a reasonable answer.

"The Kuwabara family seems to recover very quickly from injuries. You should be thankful for such a wonderful body that heals so quickly." she backed into the corner as Shizuru came forward, threatening as all hell. You couldn't pay me to trade places with Botan.

"You're calling my cousin a liar, Botan, and me a fool. I don't appreciate that."

"I'm not saying anything like that! I don't know how to explain what happened, the world works in mysterious ways; anything can happen. We should just be thankful that she wasn't hurt lethally, and that we all made it home without carrying this virus with us or any fatal injuries. A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing life threatening."

By some stroke of luck for the young woman cowering in the corner, a tall, familiar red head knocked on the doorframe before Shizuru could do anymore psychological or physical damage to Botan. I felt my face heat up at the sight of him standing there, still dressed in that pink school uniform, and quickly looked down in hopes that he didn't see my red face.

"Pardon my intrusion. I thought I heard yelling and came to see if there was anything that I could assist with." Shuichi looked concerned, but I noticed that once again it did not quite reach his eyes. There was just something about him that seemed to stop him from really feeling anything 100%, something that was too detached.

"No... it's fine. How's my brother doing, Kurama?" Shizuru reluctantly abandoned her pursual of knowledge from Botan, turning her full attention to the man in the room. I frowned, staring up at him. Kurama?

"He's doing well. He should be up in a few hours. He's just recovering." /span/p

"So what exactly happened to him? That much wasn't really clear. I just assumed he got his ass kicked by some punk, but that doesn't seem likely. The only one he loses to is Yusuke, but with him unconscious as well, it makes me think I'm not getting the full story." She crossed her arms, examining him carefully. I watched Botan in my peripheral, but didn't say anything as she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, breathing out slowly. It was interesting how much stress lying put on someone. Just a few simple untrue words and there was a mountain on their shoulders.

"I'm sure he'd rather me not spoil his story for when he wakes up." He chuckled. "He gets a little rambunctious I've noticed when someone steals his thunder."

"You don't know the half of it." Shizuru shook her head, looking about the room again. "I'm going to make some snacks. Anyone want anything?"

"Just tea for me please." I looked up at her, smiling.

"I have to get home for supper, but thank you for the offer." Shuichi gave her a grateful smile.

"If you insist. Botan, I think I need some help getting the tea ready. Why don't you come help me?" Shizuru motioned her to follow downstairs, and Botan looked terrified. I took pity on her, offering a condoling smile. She was a nice enough girl, if a little flakey. I didn't appreciate all the lies, but she seemed like she was protecting something by lying, and I couldn't fully blame her if that was the case.

However, once we were alone together, she would be doing a little more explaining, away from the fear that every word out of her mouth would lead to more pain from Shizuru.

I cleared my throat, standing up from the bed and straightening my school uniform. It was nerve-wracking being in the same room as him outside of that school. I definitely wasn't expecting him to be in my room at any point, and alone at that.

"I'm sorry about the mess. Would you like to sit down?" I offered, smiling again at him. He returned it, holding his hands out.

"No thank you, I won't be staying long. You're very kind for offering though." He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Are you alright? I heard what happened at the school. It was very brave of you to rescue Kaeko from those men."

"I wouldn't say it was 'brave', but thank you." I swallowed the lump in my throat. I would never classify that as brave; I was too scared for it to ever be considered brave, and the very thought that it could be misconstrued as such made me very uncomfortable. "I'm fine, just a little jostled I guess. My memory doesn't seem to be serving me correctly with the events that went down at the school."

He nodded, his eyes focused on mine, taking in every movement I made. It was intimidating, like a fox inspecting his prey.

"Bravery is the very act of not thinking about the consequences of your actions. From what I was told, you rushed to save your friend immediately upon hearing that she was in trouble. You didn't hesitate. I think that's incredibly brave." He smiled, seeming to ponder over the vision of what happened. I cleared my throat to try and alleviate some of the awkward tension that was rising in the room. "I've made you uncomfortable. Forgive me; I was speaking without thinking."

"No, it's okay. I'm just... I guess I didn't really think about it that way. I just wanted to help Kaeko in any way that I could. If anything, it was probably foolish to trust a stranger."

He laughed, ducking his head as he did so. I grinned, feeling accomplished for getting the response that I had hoped for out of him.

"That's probably true, though I would say that your foolishness did earn you a good deal of experience, and saved a young girl's life. I dare say that would make you very intuitive."

"You're making me blush." I teased, turning around to hide the fact that the teasing was 100% honesty. "Are you sure I can't offer you a seat? I hate making you stand there to talk to me. You're welcome to come in at least, if that would be more comfortable for you."

"With such a generous offer from my host, it would seem imprudent of me." his footsteps were quiet, but entered the room regardless, stopping maybe a few feet in just to be polite and not refuse all of what we offered. "You have a lovely room, Ella."

"Thank you." I looked around it to see what he saw, inspecting the overall plain room. I had put in a bookshelf across from my bed, and rested a small cd player on top of it so I could dance. There were notebooks and flashcards from my tutoring with Kazuma on my desk, along with several textbooks that I didn't need at school today. The only thing on my walls was that small photograph of my mother and father and toddler Gavriella centered above my bed so I could look at it at night. "I like it. They spoiled me getting me such nice furniture when I moved here."

"It suites you."

I smiled again, getting it under control before I looked back at him. "So what did happen today, if you don't mind my asking? I didn't know Kazuma was hurt."

"It's nothing to worry about. You should be more concerned with your well being. It was quite the ordeal you went through." He repeated what he'd told Shizuru, and I nodded.

"Just thought I'd check. I worry about him getting into fights; the human body can only take so much before it gives out, and as much as he thinks he's a man he's only a kid." I sighed, leaning against the wall near him but not so near that it was inappropriate. "Sorry, I shouldn't be complaining to you. You're my guest."

"It's no trouble. It's important to show that we care about those that we love." He looked almost thoughtful for a moment, which made me smile a little. I assumed he was thinking of his mother, which made me happy. It was a rare thing for a young man to be so openly caring about his parents, so dedicated to their well being. He seemed to notice me looking at him, because he offered a small smile as well as a nod of his head. "I should get going. Thank you for being such a gracious host."

He turned to leave my room, so I pushed myself off of the wall and took a step forward. "Wait. We haven't been formally introduced yet."

Shuichi turned his body halfway to look at me, and I extended my hand to him.

"My name is Gavriella Kuwabara. I'm happy to meet you."

He stared at my hand for a brief moment, seeming to analyze the situation, before a genuine, amused smile graced his lips. He reached out his hand to meet mine.

"It's a pleasure to meet-"

The moment our skin connected, I was launched into a world of pale purples, deep pinks. It was smoky, smelled like a greenhouse. It was cold, like anything that wasn't necessary to breathing was completely shut out and pushed away so it wouldn't interfere with that one simple task. It was dangerous, dark, but beautiful. It was suffocating, terrifying.

I jerked my hand backwards, staring at the now visible Shuichi Minamino. His eyes were wide, stunned, but he fixed himself to a more relaxed, concerned stance and pulled his hand back to his side. I swallowed, exhaling slowly to catch my breath. This wasn't just a fluke. What the hell was going on with me.

"Sorry, you shocked me a little." I forced a laugh, trying to play this off for now. It wouldn't do to freak him out any more than I already had. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow.

His eyes were guarded again, and his smile was careful. Whatever this was, clearly my uncalled for reaction to him touching me had made him pull back.

"Until tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Gavriella."

I watched him until he disappeared down the stairs, and ran to catch him as he was walking out the door, making sure that he had indeed left before I walked back to my bed and faceplanted directly into my pillow. Smooth, Gavriella. Really smooth.

"You okay, kiddo?"

I turned my head to look at Shizuru, who was setting down my tea on my bedside table.

"Yeah, just... tired." I sighed, sitting up so I could sip my tea. Shizuru sat down next to me and inspected my current state.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Where's Botan?"

"I sent her to check on Kazuma." She leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, relaxing for a minute. I smiled, sipping my tea and enjoying her company. It was nice sometimes, just to sit in each other's presence. To not have to worry about the redheads you might have driven away from you permanently or the colors that you see whenever you touch people. Just to sit down and relax like a normal human being.

Normal.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Ling twirled into place in our line, and looped her arm around my shoulder as I looped mine around her waist. The seven of us lifted our left legs up in a circle twice, going higher on the second one, and every other girl flipped over the other one's shoulders. It was a disaster, completely out of step and messy. I was one of the stationary girls, as I had the upper body strength to actually withstand the weight despite my size, and twirled underneath their arms to stand directly behind the group of girls. I could see flashes of a deep blues and turquoises with every brush of skin, and it was very distracting, nauseating almost. I was doing my best to keep time with everyone aimlessly moving around each other in an attempt to do our one simple routine, and barely being able to see was not helping matters in the least.

"Stop!"

I pivoted to stare at Mrs. Tanaka. She was shaking her head and muttering to herself, tapping her fingers to the rhythm our music had. It was a tick of hers I had noticed over an hour ago when I first realized that the reason she wanted me on the dance team so badly was probably because she wanted me to help whip them into shape. There was a reason these girls didn't make the competitive dance team; they seemed to view this more as a club than an actual dance team. It irritated me to no end.

"Girls, who here actually _practiced_ this routine at home, like I asked?"

There were a few mumbles, a few excuses. I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut. It wasn't my place to go lecturing on my first week of real practice. I had studied the video she had sent home with me for over two hours the night before, terrified of embarrassing myself in front of these girls, and quickly realized why Mrs. Tanaka had made promises of the competitive dance team the following year.

"No one leaves this gymnasium until their exercises are completed. I'll be back in ten minutes to check on you." Mrs. Tanaka looked to me and nodded, turning around and strolling out of the room. I turned to the others and bit my lip, walking to the far side of the gym and beginning my grapevines. I ignored the dirty looks, the mumblings behind my back. I kept a small smile on my face and a neutral look in my eyes, played my part for over an hour until I was 'allowed' to leave, and I pulled a grey blouse and a black skirt over my tanktop and spandex. It was a huge weight off my shoulders when I walked out of the doors of the school, and only when I had walked three blocks from the school did I allowed my eyes to close and my body to lean against a building and rest there.

How could one dance team be so incredibly incompetent?

I hit the building lightly with my fist and pushed myself upward, shouldering my pack again. If there was any mercy in this world, this dance team would become bearable and silent by the months' end.

Bright red hair caught my attention, a rare sight amongst my peers, and I smiled at the sight of a familiar face.

"Shuichi, hi."

Shuichi looked up at me in surprise, but smiled as he put his book into his bag and waited for me to step next to him.

"I'm surprised to see you here; I thought the dance rehearsal would go later." He nodded to me. I adjusted my bookbag and sighed, remembering that I belonged to a dance team of left-footed, bratty six year olds.

"Mrs. Tanaka let us out early due to... certain stressors that would have probably caused a few girls to go home crying if she had continued rehearsal normally. The others are still doing their exercises as far as I'm aware. Did you stay after school to study?"

"I did. I had a few essay questions that I needed clarification on. I was going to check on Yusuke on my way home; might I join you on the walk to your house?"

"You may." I grinned, moving ahead of him to walk backwards so I could keep up a conversation with him. "If you don't mind my asking, you said before that you needed to get back to your mother. Is it just you and her?"

"My father died when I was young. It's just my mother and I now." He looked up, observing a tree that we were passing under, before directing his attention back to me. "What about you? I know that you are staying with Kazuma and Shizuru; are you doing a foreign exchange program to go to school here?"

"I decided it was time to come back home, actually." I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and followed his movements as he slid to the right, moving to my left in a mirror. A man on a bike passed us, and Shuichi gave a small smile in amusement. I looked up as I walked, staring at the tops of the buildings passing us by. "I was born here, to a Japanese father and an Italian mother. I left seven years ago to live with my mother, but my heart never followed. It was always here."

We walked in silence for another block, and though I couldn't say what he was feeling, it was very comfortable on my end. I followed Shuichi's body movements to avoid crashing into anything or walking into traffic, and let my mind wander. I was still very curious about the colors that were popping into my head with every touch of skin, but if I focused on it I knew I would obsess and worry myself sick.

I looked turned my head, tucking some of the loose hair from my braid behind my ear, and stopped dead. A boy was staring at me from across the street, his hair standing up at least a head taller than him, and his red eyes glaring into me. His... red eyes...

"Are you alright, Gavriella?" I turned to look at the redhead behind me, and when I looked back to the boy there was a blank spot amongst the small crowd of people window shopping where he had just been. I swear that those were the same eyes I had seen my first day here... and at the dance team auditions...

"There was... I'm sorry, I thought I saw... I'm sorry, I must be more tired than I thought." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, looking back to that blank spot in the street. What the hell was wrong with me? "My eyes are playing tricks on me and I haven't even cracked open a textbook yet."

He didn't bite with my joke, only looked mildly concerned. "You haven't been sleeping well lately?"

"Not really." I admitted. "There's been a lot going on lately."

There was something that flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before I could decipher it. He took my hint, though, and followed me as I started walking again.

"When did you decide that you wanted to dance?" He changed the subject without much subtlety.

"My entire life. I started dancing when I was little, just for fun, but I started taking dance classes when I was eight. My mother saw that it was something of a passion and signed me up for classes right away." I took the change right away. "I decided when I was old enough to walk that I was going to be a dancer. When I was in ballet, and I first got my points, I danced until my feet bled. I couldn't walk for two days. My teacher just about strangled me out of anger; I was Clara in our production of "The Nutcracker" and I couldn't even practice!"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Determination runs in the family, I see."

"Determination and stubbornness." I agreed, grinning. "Though I think my cousin still has me beat in both regards."

"Kazuma is an impressive specimen." He agreed, looking thoughtful. "Though your family shares many qualities more than those two."

"Oh really?" I teased him, looking directly at him again. "The qualities that we all share tend to get one or all of us into trouble."

"You all care very deeply about the pain of others, especially those you love. That much is obvious without ever having to know any of you for more than a few minutes. You show it differently, but it's something that's rare to see in an entire family that is mixed in it's culture. You fit into the household like you never left." He noted, turning his head to the right in a subtle enough fashion that I almost believed him that he wasn't leading me out of harm's way.

Almost.

"You're quite the flatterer, Shuichi Minamino. But like I said; I never really left Japan." I smiled, turning to the right to keep on the sidewalk and feeling that same bit of pride at the amusement in his eyes at my ability to keep up with him. He had my heart racing with every glance, every word out of his mouth. He had me questioning his motives with every carefully planned movement, had me worried because of what I saw when I touched him and saw that world inside of him. It was confusing.

"Why did you leave Japan?"

"My grandparents decided that it wasn't in the good of the family for my father to keep me, the bastard child of a woman that he had fallen hard for without their approval, in his household when he was supposed to find a Japanese wife and continue the family line as his brother had done with Shizuru and Kazuma. My parents were head over heels for each other, but they didn't work as a marriage and his family didn't want me around as a constant insult whereas my mother's parents forced her to move back home to Italy before she cause her children any harm."

"Children?"

"She was married when she was seventeen to a man that ended up with a secret family of his own after giving her three sons. There apparently were no tears shed when they divorced, but it was hard on my brothers to keep moving around and to live in the same house as a man that they couldn't comfortably call their father because of extended family reasons. She and my brothers left when I was three, and I went to live with them when I was eight. My father and her had agreed that I was at a point in my life where I would need my mother more than my father. I lived with her for four years, then lived with my oldest brother in America for about two years to study abroad, and then came back to Italy just last year. That's the mixed accent you've been trying to place."

"Observant. I knew your accent wasn't thick enough, even for being born in Japan."

"I recognize the look; people have been trying to guess my accent since I was young. You're the first one that's been polite enough to converse with me, however, than try and butt your head into my life. You're quite the gentleman."

"Who is the flatterer now, I wonder?" He rested a hand in his pocket. "You've had quite the adventurous life."

"Life without adventures is a life wasted. I want to live my life to the fullest, take the world head on. Life's too short to do anything else." I felt a familiar crack in the sidewalk, stumbling before catching myself. "Looks like we made it. And in one piece."

"You make an excellent guide, Gavriella." He watched me open the door, following me inside and glancing around much like he did last time. I set my keys on the table next to the door, resting my bag down by Kazuma's.

"Please, it's just Ella." I insisted, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. "Would you like one?"

"No, thank you Ella."

I nodded, fidgeting with the cap. Shuichi started toward the steps, and I bit my lip. "Shuichi?"

"Yes?"

"Before, Shizuru called you 'Kurama'..."

"It's just a meaningless nickname. Nothing to remember." He assured, flicking his hand up in dismissal. It was entirely unconvincing, but I nodded anyway.

"Alright, just checking. I'll let you check up on Kazuma, sorry for holding you up."

He turned again, and this time I leaned on the counter, sipping my water and fingering the bus ticket sitting on the counter. It didn't escape my notice that Kazuma had purchased a ticket to come up with me, but I let it go. He was ever persistent on coming with me to see this Genkai, and when Kazuma was persistent he could get very, very irritating if challenged. Tomorrow would hopefully be an answer to all of my questions. Tomorrow maybe I could understand just what was happening to me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you so much for all of the feedback and for following the story up to this point! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and Happy Fourth **

**of July everyone. :)**

**Chapter Ten**

"Kazuma, you seriously don't have to come with me." I told him for the dozenth time, my headache worsening every minute he was standing next to me. I couldn't talk to someone without him puffing up his chest to look intimidating. I couldn't smile at a stranger without him asking me one hundred questions of if I knew them. I couldn't even yawn without him asking if I was sleeping well or if I wanted to fall asleep on his shoulder because of course he wouldn't mind. My beloved cousin, ever the thoughtful manly man, was ready to be punched in the throat if he didn't calm down and calm down quick.

"What kind of a man would let a girl wander alone in the woods? Plus I owe Master Genkai being able to walk and stuff, so I want to say thanks." He motioned for me to get on the bus that had just opened it's doors, following me to one of the seats in the back that could hold two people. I sat next to the window, feeling Kazuma's body heat radiating into my side as he sat down and rested his hands behind his head in relaxation.

He quieted down quickly once the bus started moving, closing his eyes even to just enjoy the ride to the compound. I smiled at him, poking his cheek. He looked so much younger with his eyes closed, his face relaxed and a small smile on his lips. He frowned, opening one eye to glare at me.

"Are you finished?"

"Nope."

He rolled his eyes and closed them again, shifting to get comfortable after my invasion of his personal bubble. I chuckled, directing my attention outside once more, resting my bag between my legs. Just in case, I had brought an overnight pair of clothes, a book, a notebook, and a pencil with me. You can never be too prepared, I had learned. The scenery outside was pretty typical; large grey buildings that all looked the same and people thicker than weeds in a garden roaming the streets. I loved watching them move around, all of them lost in their own worlds, minding their own business and the younger generations talking to their friends and laughing. It was loud and obnoxious in its own right, but pleasing to be around all the same. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I took out my book as the scenery began to change to countryside; Kazuma had told me that the busride would go through several of these scenic changes before we got to where we were going, and that meant the ride there and back alone would take up most of the day. If we were seen right away, that meant we might get back in time for supper. If not, well, I was lucky I had an overnight bag and some money for our food and lodge somewhere between here and home.

Reading turned out not to be my best decision, however, as I woke up curled into Kazuma's side. His right arm was around my shoulder, and his head was leaning toward mine. His snores were surprisingly soft, so I could only assume that he was half asleep. He was usually the loudest, most obnoxious sleeper I had ever met. I untangled myself from him gently, yawning. He would get freaked out by our being so close, and I was too tired to deal with that culture clash.

"Kazuma, I think we're almost there." I poked his side, putting my book back into my bag. He started, glancing around and yawning.

"Next stop." He rubbed the back of his head.

As the bus rolled to a stop, I admired the woods we were about to walk in. They seemed dense and adventurous, the steps leading into them promising and worn from years of people trecking up and down. How many people had come to see this Master over the years? How many people even knew where she was?

I stepped off of the bus, following Kazuma to the side so he could check his backpack one more time to make sure he brought all of his things. Like it would make a difference now that we were already here.

"-can't believe she won't train us!"

"Old hag thinks she's so great... stuck up old coot doesn't know real talent when she sees it!"

Kazuma and I stared at two men walking down the path of the woods, both in martial arts uniforms and both of them around Kazuma's height, strong. I looked to Kazuma, and he simply shook his head, looking at them again to hear them.

"'Already has a protege' my ass. Probably doesn't even remember the last time she had a student at all."

Kazuma twitched, but shouldered his backpack again and motioned for me to follow him up the steps. I rested my hands on the straps of my backpack and jogged after him, turning around and walking backwards to walk in front of him up the steps.

"So what's she like?"

"She's a powerful psychic, and really stern. But she cares about other people, even if she doesn't like to show it very much. She healed me when I competed in her tournament; I wouldn't have been able to walk right for the rest of my life if she didn't." He eyed me up suspiciously. "Why do you want to see her? You got weird spirit powers too?"

"I wouldn't say 'weird' or 'powers', really." I blushed, looked down. "I just... I see colors, feel things, when I touch people skin on skin."

He frowned, slowing to a stop and staring at me. "What do you mean you see colors?"

"I mean that you have an electric yellow energy, like lightning. It's warm, good. Like you underneath the crap you put on. I mean that Shizuru has honey orange, and feels warm and hot, and Botan is grey and persistent and happy and Shuichi is pink and cold and..." I took a breath, trying to calm down. I didn't need to lose it now of all times. "I'm sorry. I'm just... overwhelmed. I don't know what's happening, Kazuma. I feel like I'm going crazy. Everytime I touch my dancemates I'm surrounded by so many feelings and so many colors I feel sick."

He looked at his feet, seeming to think about something, before he looked over his shoulder, checking to see if anyone was there. When he figured no one was coming, he held out his hand. I rested mine in his, watching as my world was engulfed in that yellow electricity, crackling in front of me. I reached out and felt little pulses going up and down through my hand, warmth and kindness flowing through me, protecting me. Kazuma pulled his hand back from me, and put his hand on my shoulder when the world started spinning from the change.

There were no words, just a stern look on his face as he walked past me up the steps. I felt like crying, but followed him forward, tripping up the stairs twice. The compound was so deep in the mountain and the woods in it that even my feet were hurting by the time the pale stone building came into view. I felt odd going up the steps, a sort of tingling in my legs telling me to turn around and walk away. That feeling you get when there's danger. Kazuma kept walking. I swallowed, but kept following, glancing around at the woods.

The compound was a pale color, red trimming decorating it, and a traditional green roof pointed upwards that reminded me of a temple in medieval Japan. the courtyard was made of stone as well, and well kept. It was open, and large, and still gave me that vibe telling me to get out of here while I still could. It was kind of exhilarating.

Kazuma made a beeline for the door, not bothering to slip off his shoes as he cleared his throat. I followed close behind him, stopping just before I got inside, looking around. It was a large, open room, and filled with... games. Lights and noise, punching games, toggle stick games, racing games...

This... was not what I was expecting.

"Master Genkai!" Kazuma exclaimed, laughing as he walked forward to meet an old woman even smaller than I was. She was staring at him, an unamused look on her face as he blathered on about her healing him. I wasn't really paying attention. When she smiled, her face relaxing and her eyes softening just a little, I swear I could see flecks of blue so bright it was almost white dancing around her. Something was different about this place, like there was energy dancing on the air. Whatever it was, it was scaring me.

Kazuma's hand coming down hard on my shoulder brought me out of my trance, and I quickly bowed to show my respect.

"Master Genkai, this is my cousin, Gavriella Kuwabara." He introduced me. When I looked up, I saw her inspecting my small backpack and my loose clothes, that hard look back in her eye.

"I'm sorry, but you know I already have an apprentice. Young lady, you have come a long way for nothing."

"I'm sorry?"

"I've already chosen my student, trained him, and sent him on his way. I have made it perfectly clear to your cousin that I will not be taking on any other students for any reason. I'm very sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Kazuma opened his mouth to say something, starting to walk after her as she turned but I grabbed his shoulder to silence him and hopped to get my shoes off, walking after her. I was already frustrated from the scene with Kazuma, and her brushing me off didn't help my mood. I tried calming myself, needing to be mentally sound when I spoke to her.

"Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to ask you a few questions-"

"Everyone wants something. You think you're the first person to come to this compound desiring answers for every question they have about things they know nothing about?"

"That's actually why I'm here; something's happening to me-"

"You should go home while the buses are still running. You're young, full of energy; do something productive with your time that doesn't involve pestering old women. The door is behind you, I'm sure you can show yourself out."

"Will you just LISTEN to me?!"

I stamped my foot like a child, too angry to care, causing her to come to a stop. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears, my veins beginning to swell at the heat.

"I didn't come all of this way to train under you and I didn't come because I want you to give me all of the answers for how to live my life. I came because my cousin told me you could tell me what is happening to me. I need to know what's causing this... this... _accidenti!_"

I bit my lip, the hot tears burning my cheeks. I swiped at them, trying to control myself, control my temper. I was acting like a spoiled child, and in front of the only person that might be able to tell me what these colors meant, what that meant for my future.

Everything was silent. I could hear Kazuma's breathing, the birds outside. The games were like screaming sirens. I took a breath and bowed again, forcing the calm to come back.

"I'm sorry. Thank you for your time. I'll be leaving now."

"Quit being so dramatic."

I jumped, my heart stepping it up three notches, and whipped around to see her staring at me, that solemn look on her face and her hands clasped behind her back.

"Throwing a tantrum for not getting your way, you must be awfully popular. It's not my job to give advice to confused teenage girls." She chuckled, every word hitting it's mark. And she knew it. "However, I could be persuaded to make an exception in your case."

I flushed. Was she for real? "What do you mean?"

"Follow me."

Kazuma stepped up beside me, his jaw clenched tight and his eyes wild with questions. I didn't imagine I looked much better. This Genkai... I swallowed hard, moving ahead of him and almost tripping on nothing in my haste to not make her wait and in an attempt in reconfigure my brain around Japanese again.

Genkai stopped in front of one of the games, a punching bag game, and handed me a boxing glove. I quirked an eyebrow and stared at her. This wasn't normal.

"Punch the target."

When she didn't add anything to that statement, and subsequently stared at me like I was a moron who was wasting her time, I strapped on the boxing glove and too my wallet out of my backpack, inserting a quarter. Here went nothing.

**Translation:**

_Accidenti = Damnit_


	11. Chapter 11

"Wow, you suck cous."

"I passed, didn't I?" I blushed, taking off the glove and ducking my head. He laughed, moving to take the glove from me.

"Let me show you how it's done."

"You had your turn playing these games." Genkai glared his way. Kazuma immediately dropped the glove, stepping away and laughing nervously. I had to learn how she did that; unnerving someone at a glance was impressive. "You'll play this one next."

Jenken. Kazuma was an expert at this game, never lost. It was like witchcraft or magic. I, on the other hand, lost almost every game I had ever played. I really didn't understand what any of this was about, but I sucked it up and stuck a quarter in the game, biting my lip as the lights began to flash, warning me that it was about to start. I was relieved when the lights started off slowly, moving my hand quickly to become accustomed to the movement. Scissors, rock, scissors, paper, paper, rock scissors paper...

I shook my hand off when the game dinged, flashing a score of 176 across the screen. Yes! I whipped around to grin at Kazuma, only to see he was across the room talking to Genkai. I didn't have long to debate going over to them, as she pointed at the microphone sitting next to a small television.

Karaoke.

Fuck.

I glanced to it, then to her, but she was focused on my cousin and I really didn't want to make her irritated or challenge her again. Something told me that she wouldn't tolerate two outbursts in one day, and honestly I needed to make up for my childish behavior. Again, I sucked it up and walked over to my nemesis, eyeing the small song book in front of me. "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics caught my eye, followed by confusion why she would have an American song on her karaoke machine.

'I won't question a lucky break when I get it.' I sighed, pushing in my quarter and taking the mic in my hand. The music started after only a few seconds and I swallowed hard. I hated karaoke.

I started the song with my nerves wound tight, trying not to sing through gritted teeth or too far from the mic. Why would she put anyone through this kind of torture? Was she secretly a sadist that Kazuma brought me to to punish me for giving him all of those hugs?

The music was soothing, despite my awful rendition, which was a relief. I'd sing a slower song before a fast paced poppy song any day. At least a slower song was understandable and I could take my time getting my nerves worked out instead of butchering it quickly with no chance.

The song couldn't end quickly enough. Actually, I sped off the small stage when the last lyric was sung and the music was going out, needing to get out of the imaginary spotlight that was burning me up. Dancing in front of thousands of people? No problem. Singing? Good joke.

Kazuma turned to look at me, glancing at my score and dropping his jaw. I rolled my eyes, then noticed Genkai's eyebrows raise at my score. I glanced back to see a solid 197 on the screen, feeling my cheeks flush. The machine must have been broken; I can't hold a tune to save my life.

"Even Urameshi didn't get that high of a score!" Kazuma gaped, looking from the machine to me and back. I blushed, playing with my bracelet for what must have been the thousandth time since I'd come back home. Why did he have to make such a big deal out of this?

Genkai folded her arms behind her back, looking up at me with that stern look I was growing more and more accustomed to. "I'll tell you what girl; I'll give you the answers you are looking for, I'll help you understand this power you have inside of you, but first you'll undergo my training. I want to know what you're capable of."

This day was not going like I expected.

"I thought you said that you wouldn't train anyone." I crossed my arms in return, needing to do anything but stand still. Kazuma nudged me, and the force of it sent me sideways a little. I glared at him, looking to Genkai again. "I don't mean that to sound rude, I'm just-"

"I would be more surprised if you weren't confused. I don't usually do this, so take a moment to consider. This is a one time offer, kiddo."

"I'll do it." I didn't skip a beat, surprising myself with the confidence and finality that my voice held despite my nerves and my confusion. She didn't look surprised at all, offering a smirk that made me leery.

"Go home and grab something more appropriate for training here, get a good night's sleep, and come immediately after you are finished with school. You'll need to get your affairs in order before you commit to this."

"Wait, I'm going to be living here?" I glanced to Kazuma and back to her. "I'm not sure if I can do that. I have other commitments that I need to hold up, obligations I can't just turn away from... I want to train, but I can't just give up the life I'm making to do so."

"I'm sorry kiddo, but that's the deal. Take it or leave it."

I stared at her back as she wandered out into another room connected to the game room, closing the door behind her. I took it as our cue to leave, but I still had so many questions.

"You're lucky, Ella. Master Genkai doesn't train just anyone, you know." Kazuma grinned at me, obviously excited. I wished I could match his enthusiasm, but stress was starting to kick in.

"Kazuma, I have no idea how I'm going to get out of school. Or dance rehearsals. Mrs. Tanaka is going to kill me, and my principal is never going to agree to let me just start missing out when I've only been here a little over a month." I ran my fingers over my shoulders, squeezing them to try and relieve some tension. "And I can't imagine Shizuru is going to take this well either."

"Shizuru will be fine. Just tell her when we get home, and don't worry about the rest until tomorrow. You're a good student; you'll be fine."

'Somehow I doubt that.' I thought, picking up my backpack and following him to the door. I pulled my shoes on and hopped after him, staring down the stairs. Comfortability or practicality... the choice was always a hard one.

"You really think I could do this?" I wondered, having decided on practicality and tripping most of the way down the long steps to the compound. Walking forward was really hard.

"Sure. If Master Genkai wants to train you, I think you could even be better than Urameshi! She hasn't offered to train me, or anyone for that matter, really. She only trained Urameshi because he won her tournament a couple months back, and that was because she wanted to pass on her abilities." He nodded. I nodded in return, slipping again and sucking up my pride, grabbing his sleeve to keep myself upright. Practicality wasn't turning out to be so practical after all.

"What is it that she can do, anyway? You said she was a psychic, but what is it she's known for?"

"Honestly I don't really know. She's not afraid of demons or anything, and she can use her spiritual power for healing and throwing people across rooms and sensing other things. She's really private, and Urameshi said her training is really intense."

"Demons? You've gotta be kidding." I lifted my eyebrow, trying not to laugh. "You succeeded in making me smile, Kazuma. Thanks, I needed that."

"I'm not kidding."

I glanced up at him, and stopped. He was staring down at me and stopped with me, turning to face me. It wasn't often I saw him looking so serious, and it was a tossup if he was going to say something ridiculously stupid or unusually insightful.

"Demons are real? You're telling me that creatures with horns and tails are walking amongst us unseen and causing mischief and mayhem?" I crossed my arms.

"Of course not, that's silly." He scoffed and rolled his eyes, resting his hands on his hips. "Demons can look like humans too, and they have their own world they live in. They just cross over sometimes, though they're usually pretty weak. The teachers that attacked you guys a week ago were under control of a demon in demon world that Urameshi and I helped defeat. Well I mean, I did most of the work, but Urameshi helped I guess."

"You helped defeat a demon?" I squeezed the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, trying to wrap my head around this. "Are you going to tell me next that Yusuke is a demon too? That would be fitting."

"Nah, you don't gotta worry about him." He offered his arm before walking down again, me in tow.

"So you don't actually KNOW any demons, you just help humanity fight them." I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, the sass to a minimum. It was ridiculous; spirit awareness I knew, things from beyond I could accept, but DEMONS? That was pushing the bounds of my open mindedness.

"I happen to know TWO demons, thank you. You know one too, you know, so stop making it seem like it's not true." He was getting defensive, which made the child in me want to bait him. I resisted, which made me more irritated, but it was better than starting a fight on a staircase in the middle of nowhere.

"And this demon is?"

"Kurama."

I stared at him. Kurama... Kurama... I'd heard that name...

"Shuichi?"

"Who?"

"The redhead who was checking in on you and Yusuke? The one walking me home from dance practice? Tall, slender, wicked smart with a calm demeanor? You're saying he's a demon?"

"Didn't know his name was 'Shuichi', we just call him 'Kurama'. Yeah, he can control plants and stuff. Pretty neat to watch him fight." He tugged a bit on my arm to make me speed up a bit. I obliged, but my mind was moving far too fast for my feet to keep up.

"Why are you telling me this?" I decided on ,my safest question, the one that would make the most sense to me right now. Everything that was going on was just not going in the direction I expected today. I'm getting trained by an old woman up in the mountains, virtually dropping out of school to do so, and the boy that had simultaneously excited and frightened me at the same time turned out to be a demon? I felt like I was going to wake up any minute and get called downstairs because I overslept and have to leave with Kazuma to school.

"Because if you're going to train your spirit energy to be strong and aware, you need to know as much as possible before you go up to Master Genkai's unprepared like I did. It was really intense to learn about it like that, and I want you to be at least a little prepared for whatever she's going to teach you."

I bumped his shoulder, smiling a little, but was lost in thought. My cousin could be thoughtful when he wanted to be, but I really was concerned about the situation I was putting myself into. How was I going to get away with skipping school and dance to train up in the mountains? And Shuichi was Kurama, who was also a demon, but he didn't want me to know for obvious reasons. How was I going to act when I saw him at school? Was that why it felt cold to touch him? I might just have to take a nap today.

I might just have to take a nap today. Every bone in my body was starting to hurt, which made my head throb.

**Just a reminder: Karoake detects energy's ability to adapt and grow stronger, the punching game detects the spirit's strength, and Jenken detects spirit awareness. **


	12. Chapter 12

I double checked my duffle bag, making sure that I had everything that I would need before I headed off to speak with my principal before school started. We had a two hour delay today in the high school while the junior high started at the normal time. Yesterday I only was able to meet with Mrs. Tanaka to discuss taking a leave from dance rehearsals, and I arranged a meeting to discuss with my principal just what that would mean for my classes and for studying. I wasn't looking forward to this meeting whatsoever, but I needed to get it over with so I could hop on the bus back to Genkai's.

Shizuru gave me a hug at the door, giving me a look that told me just how much she didn't care for this plan. I looked down, fiddling with my bag before looking up at her again. She just shook her head and touched my shoulder.

"Be safe and try and phone home whenever you can, alright?" She asked, her voice tense. Kazuma had gotten the short end of that stick last night when we got home, though I was pleased to say that it had taken remarkably little convincing to get her to agree to let me go. I wanted to say something comforting, something that would ease her mind, but nothing was coming. So, as in true Gavriella fashion, I nodded awkwardly and rested my hand on hers.

"I will. I promise." Shizuru nodded, and released me. I swallowed, forcing a smile again. "I love you, Shizuru."

"I love you too, Gav."

It felt good to hear those words, and I felt much better about everything with that simple sentence. I gave her one last hug and headed out, slipping on my tennis shoes and making my way to the high school. I was halfway to the school when I heard footsteps pounding near me. I frowned, glancing up and seeing Yusuke booking it like hell with his bookbag over his shoulder. I turned, watching him as he passed me completely, running around the corner and out of sight. I stared at him, wondering if I should try and catch up with him or just keep at my own pace before deciding that quickening just a little wouldn't hurt.

'Mental check... clothes, my study books, toothbrush, toothpaste, gauze, wraps for my wrists and ankles, extra shoes, socks, notebooks, pens, undergarments, a list of numbers just in case of emergency and my dance rehearsal book with all of our routines in it. I had promised Mrs. Tanaka constant practice to make sure I could still perform when I returned. It wasn't difficult to convince her, and the routines, as before, were still ridiculous in their simplicity, but I planned to honor my promise regardless.

"_You're_ following Koenma's orders?" I heard Yusuke behind me, frowning again and turning around to face forward. He should be AT the school by now with how fast he was running...

I almost tripped over my own two feet at the sight of the boy in front of Yusuke. That same boy I saw at the train station, the one with the trenchcoat and the bandage over his forehead and the massive amounts of hair sticking straight up. Those red eyes that I kept seeing everywhere...

"Something wrong, Hiei?" Those red eyes landed on me, and Yusuke followed his eyes and turned to see me, jumping. "Ella, what are you doing here?"

"You passed me a minute ago, Yusuke. I'm on my way to talk to my principal about taking leave from school." I explained, walking up to his side and inspecting the boy... 'Hiei' as he was called... and bowed to him in greeting. "Hi, I think we saw each other at the train station yesterday. I'm Ella, Kazuma's cousin."

"Hn." He looked away, completely disinterested in anything I just said. I stared at him, then looked at Yusuke, who was focused on him. Yusuke blinked in surprise, and I turned to find that this Hiei person was gone. Not even just walking away or catching a glimpse of him turning somewhere, but gone. Like he had disappeared into thin air.

What a royal jerk.

Trying to shrug off how much it bothered me that he had been so dismissive, I looked at Yusuke again, looking him up and down.

"So that was a demon, huh?"

Yusuke actually fell to the side, just like a corny anime character, staring at me and his mouth gaping, grasping at words he couldn't seem to form or connect into a basic sentence. It was funny as all hell, but I decided to take pity on him.

"Kazuma told me a little about that world the other day."

"Why would he-"

I reached down to help him up, and when his hand touched mine I was thrust into a world of blues and reds, fighting for dominance over one another. It was warm, similar to Kazuma's, but foreign in the fact that everything was so intense, so fierce. Like everything about him was fighting over itself like the swirling colors that refused to combine.

I pulled away from him, feeling that dizziness popping up again, but looking him in the eyes as he stood up completely and stared at me for a second before laughing and rubbing the back of his head.

"I was wondering if that goof was the only one in your family that had spirit awareness. So you know all about what the old hag put me through then?"

"Kazuma said it was difficult training..."

"Yeah, difficult doesn't begin to cover it! Balancing for twelve hours on my fingertip, rock climbing with a ball and chain around both of my ankles - and she assaulted me on the way up I might add - not to mention sleeping in the woods for days on end without direction or explanation!"

I stared at him, trying to wrap my head around this new information. There had to be a mistranslation in my head somewhere in that. When Kazuma told me that he wanted me to know what I was getting myself into, he never told me any of this, and for him to neglect something that crucial was beyond even his realm of forgetfulness.. How was I supposed to survive a trip to the mountains with an old woman I didn't even know putting me through what sounded like a completely and utterly traumatic rollercoaster ride through Hell?

"-made me pretty tough though, I'll give the old timer that much. My spirit gun has never been stronger." He boasted. I blushed, closing my eyes. I definitely spaced out and missed context...

Yusuke jumped again, and I followed suite, not really sure what to expect.

"I'm late for school! Damnit, I gotta run. See you around!"

I watched him disappear into the distance, a little amazed at just how fast his panic could make him move. After a minute I forced myself to keep moving, turning around and letting myself drift off into my own little world. I was getting second thoughts about training with Genkai, but I already agreed to undergo her training, and something told me that if I were to back out I would regret it for the rest of my life. Whatever came was what was coming anyway, regardless of if I worried about it all the way to school or not. I just had to trust that whatever she did to me would help me improve and control whatever this was.

Without Yusuke there to cause a scene, the rest of my walk to school was fairly peaceful. Cars drove around me, voices called out the nearer I got to the school itself, but my walk was uninterrupted and my mind was free of complaints other than what my future held and the way that boy dismissed me like I was nothing more than a pest.

I was raised in Japan. Courtesy was a common thing, and even amongst the most rude people I had met, you were at least ACKNOWLEDGED, even if it was an insult or a sneer. I literally got no response from him and all he did was turn away and disappear. I mean, yeah, he was a demon (apparently) so the culture was going to be a lot different, but being ignored was just something I mentally couldn't handle. Even my father's family, as spiteful as they are, acknowledged my presence. Hiei the demon was getting far too deep under my skin for my liking.

I nodded to Mako on my way in, surprised to see her here so early. She tilted her head, confusion on her face, and I mouthed that I was going to see Principal Kobayashi. She nodded, offering a small smile, before flicking her eyes back to our science teacher, Ms. Sunadori. She must be getting extra help before the tests next week. I was going to miss her, I realized with a start.

One of the secretaries seated at the desk glanced up at me and made a note on a sticky pad before motioning for me to go right in for my meeting with the principal. I took in a deep breath, calming myself. This would be fine. There was nothing to worry about. Everything was going to work out and I wouldn't be kicked out of school and my future would not be lying in ruins for an opportunity that very well might not provide any sort of help to what was happening to me. Yeah... everything was going to be just fucking peachy.

Now or never.

I knocked on the door, taking another breath when he told me to come in and twisting the knob. However, the smile I had managed melted immediately. Seated in front of the desk was a pink and grey head of hair that was waving down a think back, a yellow tunic contrasting her hair. The energy in the room was thick and deliciously tangible, thin layers of blue crackling in and out of my vision as I glanced around to find the source.

It was all her.

Genkai.

"Ah, Ms. Kuwabara. I was just speaking to your new tutor. It seems everything is in order for your break from school."

I stared at him for a moment, wrapping my brain around this new development. How in the hell did she get here? WHY did she come here in the first place when she told me to take care of all of this myself?

"I appreciate that sir. I apologize for the last minute inconvenience."

"It's no trouble at all. With everything that's been going on, it's understandable that you would need some time off. You found an excellent substitute for the institution, it seems, so I am not so much worried about your scores and grades as I am about your socialization. You were just making headway with the other students..."

With everything that's been going on? What?

"I know sir, but they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Perhaps it will be easier to connect with my fellow students when I return, once my mind is cleared and I have a better grasp on my reading skills." I forced a smile, shifting the bag on my shoulder and doing my best to play along. Dance helped more than I could ever imagine, since we had to act with our entire bodies during recitals and performances, and I silently thanked my mother for pushing me into it. It comes in handy more often than not in my life.

"I think that will be all. A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Principal Kobayashi stood and shook Genkai's hand, who nodded to him in return.

"The pleasure is mine. Shall we get going, Gavriella? We have a lot of ground to cover today before we get settled in." She turned to face me, amusementin her eyes, and I clenched my jaw to hold in my remarks.

"Of course. Thank you, Principal Kobayashi. I will see you in a few weeks."

I followed Genkai out of the room, fighting very hard to stay quiet despite all of my questions, and practically panting for answers. We walked in silence through the halls, past the few schoolmates and teachers who had shown up early, and out the doors. I didn't say anything, walking ahead of her and turning around so I was facing her and walking backwards, muddling through how I was going to ask just what I needed to when she spoke for me.

"Gentle manipulation is a simple enough technique. When you flex just a little of your control over another being, it makes them more susceptible to your will, and if you are careful, you can convince them of anything with good logic. It's good for avoiding paperwork."

"So you convinced him that you were my new tutor..."

"To avoid suspicion of why you were suddenly going to be missing so much school." She finished for me, her hands behind her back as we walked. I shook my head, biting my lip a little.

"I thought you were leaving it up to me to make these plans."

"Consider it a gesture of good faith that you will prove to be a worthy pupil." She smirked, glancing my way. "I trust you've said your goodbyes."

"I have my ticket and was going to head to the station after the meeting." I confirmed.

She smiled again. It was starting to make me uncomfortable with just how pleased she was with this entire situation. "Excellent. And am I right to assume that you brought studying materials for your classes?"

"...Yes..." I narrowed my eyes at her, turning with her when she turned a corner, glancing to make sure there was no one I would bump into.

"Perfect. We will start immediately with your literature assignments."

"I'm sorry?" I slowed down, turning as she walked past me and walking slowly behind her. "You were serious about the whole tutor thing?"

"I can hardly sent you back to school with the same level of education you left with, can I?" she smirked, and I bit my lip to keep my comments to myself. "Your education will be taken care of, and your fears of being expelled from school and not having a future can be put to ease. So stop looking like someone kicked your puppy and give me your reading list."

I did as she asked, taking out a folder with the expectations of each of my classes, what we had been studying, would be studying, and when. The one thing I loved about Japanese schooling is they were always prepared with everything they were going to do for the year. Hopefully this would be more in my benefit than my downfall in the coming weeks; I wasn't sure what to expect anymore from this woman.


	13. Chapter 13

"Poison... quarantine..." I grit my teeth, forcing another sit up. I couldn't feel my legs gripping the branch and had long since given up trying to keep my arms about my head, gripping instead my chest and shoulders to try and keep myself stable. "Rancor... _sagace_... _tagliare_... _uccidere_..."

"Japanese." Genkai reminded me, her voice coming from up in the tree, beyond view. I didn't bother trying to spot her; I knew she was halfway up, sitting down against the trunk of the tree. I don't know how, but I knew it. I just... freaking... knew it...

"Vexation... Wroth... xylophone..."

"You've already used xylophone twice."

The leaves were shaking around me from the strain of pulling myself up again.

"Then give me another 'x' word. I don't know anymore." I snipped, not even caring that the woman I was snipping at was probably going to take this hell to another level for being mouthy. I wasn't in the mood. Three sets ago I still cared. Two sets ago I still cared. But after my eighth set of this ABC sit ups on a tree branch in the middle of nowhere with an old sadist crap, I really stopped caring about politeness.

"Looks like we'll be here all day then, kiddo."

I bit the inside of my cheek until blood filled my mouth, trying to calm the hell down from this. What did sit ups and climbing rock walls and doing finger pushups with claps have to do with learning about what was happening to me?

"...Yippee... zombie." I finished my set, spitting out some of the blood so it wouldn't make me any more sick than dehydration would.

"Congratulations. Now give me one more."

"Are you kidding me?" I bit, trying to watch myself, staring up at where I knew she was sitting out of my view. It hurt, but I ignored it, getting pissed.

"You slipped into Italian. Stick to Japanese this time around and you may not have to do another."

I glared, and grit my teeth again. I wanted to drop down and just lay on the ground and never move again. I wanted to hit something and throw a tantrum like a child. I wanted to do anything than another fucking set of sit ups.

"Acerbic... Beheading..." I spit out. I would do the damn sit ups, and I would only curse her name silently, but I didn't have to like them.

**(Four days later) **

The clouds had started to darken around noon, signaling that it was going to rain. I watched them roll in, beginning to darken and take over the sky from my spot on the ground. Seven days and I already felt like my mind and my body were completely disconnected. I had done more posing in the last week than in the last year alone. Twelve straight hours of balancing in a handstand followed by three hours of studying mathematics yesterday by itself had me wondering which one to live in, which proceeded to give me a headache.

I closed my eyes, feeling the wind brush over me. It was going to rain soon. It would feel like heaven after the ten mile run this morning in the humid, hot weather. It felt like I was part of the ground, sinking into the soft grass and through the dirt and becoming part of the earth. The sun on my face, drying my slick, sweat covered clothes and hair, was encouraging sleep, and I almost answered it's peaceful call.

Until I remembered the demon known as Genkai.

I forced myself to a seated position, overlooking the vast landscape around the compound, bringing my numb legs up to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. It was beautiful here, away from the city and the people. I didn't get to notice the scenery much in between training exercises, none of which had done anything more than make me want to either throw up or make me want to flip a table out of frustration. It was... strangely enjoyable... in a sick, masochistic way.

I couldn't deny that my basic comprehension of reading and writing Japanese had already drastically improved, despite the methodology causing me to grind my teeth to keep my mouth shut. And even though my body felt like pudding, I could see my muscles hardening and feel whatever energy was running through me hopping on an adrenaline wagon and begging for more. It was both frustrating and invigorating all at the same time, and it was a love/hate relationship in the extreme. It was how I felt the first time I tried ballet at my dance studio...

"I'm getting up." I sighed, recognising the creeping sensation up my spine whenever she acknowledged my existence in some way, shape, or form. I forced my legs to work properly and turned around to face her, not surprised that she was standing not three feet away from me.

"Enjoy the view?"

Shit. I was in trouble.

"I did. And I'm ready to keep going." I lied, clenching and unclenching my hands to get the blood working again.

"Follow me." She turned around, stalking across the grass toward the front of the compound again. I obeyed her order, pondering what she was going to make me do now. I wanted to think positively, but I knew better. And somehow, that only excited me more. It was thrilling in its own way, to push myself to exhaustion and know that I might not be getting back up. It was terrifying, but I wanted to push it harder. Something in me wouldn't allow for anything else.

Genkai led me to the opening of the shrine room, motioning for me to sit on the deck. I obeyed, wincing at the feeling of my muscles trying to relax again, and looked out at the view again. This one had a direct view of where the sun would set, and overlooked a dip in the forest where I could vaguely make out what looked to be a river. It was beautiful. Realizing that I was making the same mistake, I sat up straight and watched her instead of the scenery.

"You can relax, kiddo. You're not in any trouble." She smirked, walking to the back of the room and lighting a stick of incense. I watched the tendrils make their way up toward the ceiling, pooling and spreading, looking for a way out of the room. "Today you're going to meditate. Find your center."

"Oh...okay..." That wasn't what I was expecting. "Is there any length of time that you want me to meditate?"

"As long as it takes."

"... As long as what takes?"

"You were distracted long before you got on that bus to come and see me the first time; how do you expect to be able to find your potential when your mind and your heart aren't in your training?" She scorned, turning to face me again.

"I'm sorry... I'm trying my best." I blushed, pulling out my braid for something else to focus on. Was I doing that terrible?

"It's not about how long you can run or how much you can carry before your legs give out. If you are distracted from the task at hand, your mind separates from the task at hand and you don't learn anything. Putting your body through hell means nothing if your mind doesn't absorb it."

I let my damp hair fall down my back, biting my lip. I didn't want to argue, but... meditation? Seriously?

I simply nodded instead, bringing my legs in to mimick the yoga instructors I had seen on television, resting my hands on my knees when I realized that I had no idea what to do with them, seeing as I was NOT going to be putting them in front of me like I was praying. And I wasn't going to be humming. The yoga way was not my way.

She nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. Her footsteps stopped at the doorway nearest this room, that door opening and shutting with a soft thud. She was probably going to be doing her own training or meditation, but staying near enough that she could keep an eye on me, make sure that I was doing what I was told.

I sighed, looking out at the forest again, imagining taking a dip in that cool water. I would rather do ANYTHING than be sitting here with my eyes closed and my mind wandering, but that's what I was told to do, and doing anything else would just take away from whatever end goal she had for me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the wind shake the leaves on the trees. I could hear the compound creak slightly from the temperature change, feel the goosebumps on my flesh as the clouds continued to darken the sky, smell the moisture in the air the pressure continued to change. Everything around me was bursting with life, taking on a world of it's own.

And here I was sitting still and getting cold.

I tapped my knees for some sort of distraction. One could only listen to the sounds of nature for so long without just falling asleep to them. I peeped through my eyelids and checked out the scenery, trying to keep the image in my head when I closed my eyes again. My mother's yoga tapes always said to visualize when meditating, to allow your mind to take you somewhere else and feel at one with nature and all that jazz. I always sat down with her and then snuck away after maybe five minutes. I didn't know how to _meditate_. Sitting still for hours on end wasn't _fun_.

I hummed under my breath, changed positions, even just tried to pass feelings of warmth to different parts of my body, but when the rain finally started to fall my only results were that I was still sore and my mind was still soaring at 80 miles per hour with no sign of stopping.

I groaned, moving my legs in front of me and pressing my head to my knees to stretch out. I wasn't happy with wasting all of that time.

Forcing myself up, I walked out of the shrine room and into the hallways, glancing around for Genkai. She wasn't anywhere to be seen, so I wandered back to my makeshift room, sitting on the small cot. I pulled off my training clothes, the dried sweat sticking to my skin, and pulled on some comfy sleeping clothes, pulling out my notebooks and getting started on my Literature homework. It was odd not having her nitpick what I was doing, but it was a bit of a relief after a stressful week. It was nice just being by myself for a little while... well, being by myself in a non-meditation failure state.

I bit the end of my pen, finding that reading Japanese was starting to come easier since Genkai had taken over my studies. She may be a hard-ass, but she definitely produced results, I'll give her that.

**Translation:**

sagace = shrewd or sagacious

tagliare = to slit

uccidere = to kill


	14. Chapter 14

Of all of the things that I have done wrong in my life, I was having a difficult time understanding what was so terrible that I was deserving of this.

Three straight days of meditation after training and I was trying to find any excuse I could not to be sat down in that room and told to waste my time closing my eyes and trying to find some inner state of peace or whatever that I wasn't going to find. It was ridiculous to try and make me do something so tedious and boring, something that I had already failed at with flying colors twice in a row.

"But I have questions about the readings from last night." I grasped at straws, desperate for a way out of this.

"And you'll have time to ask them when we sit down for the review before your test tomorrow." Genkai folded her arms behind her back, giving me a glare. "Now quit whining and sit down."

"But-"

"Gavriella."

I let out a whine, frustrated, and crashed onto the deck, assuming the position. This was so dumb. If she wanted me to 'waste time', I could just dance. She was wasting my time AND hers by making me meditate. She would at most be wasting only her time if I was dancing instead. I hadn't had a real chance to just go at it since I'd gotten here ten days ago, which was my record time for not dancing (apart from the broken ankle when I was twelve), and I was going stir-crazy with want. But I closed my eyes and listened to her walk away, out the door and down the hall again. I could hear her taking out a pen and paper, starting to scribble something down. I had figured out yesterday that when I concentrated I could hear and feel things that I had thought were impossible, like hearing someone writing on a sheet of paper forty feet away from me between two closed doors. I didn't know if it had anything to do with my color thing or if it was just something I had to be bored enough to figure out that I could do, but it would prove very nifty when I went home.

The sun was still hours from setting, but it was lower in the sky, and the day was clear, so I was blessed with a warm drying session instead of the cold rainy weather that had been the bane of my existence the last two days. I closed my eyes, feeling my skin soaking up the rays and listening to the wildlife that was free to roam around again without the threat of rain. It was a jungle out there, each animal communicating in it's own language, hunting prey, foresting... I could hear all of it if I concentrated hard enough. It almost... sounded like music...

I opened my eyes, staring at the forest surrounding me. It was gorgeous, and the day was peaceful. Everything was in balance, and my body had begun acclimating to the intense workout that was existing in Genkai's compound. Genkai herself was still shut in that room, writing away.

I glanced about the room, double checking with my eyes to see if this was some sort of trick, and hopped of the deck as quietly as I could, stretching in preparation. The routine was basic, rudimentary really, but it was better than nothing at this point.

Closing my eyes again, I started a walkthrough of the routine, imagining each of the girls around me, and imagining that they were competent in their dancing abilities. Ling had been placed next to me for most of the exercises and routines we would be doing according to the lineups and graphs Mrs. Tanaka had constructed for me, and I couldn't help but feel that she was hoping I would force the girl to be a better dancer. She was by far the clumsiest, and never memorized what we were supposed to be doing. It was annoying more than anything. But Ling was on my left and Nana was on my right, graceful but arrogant. She had a lot of promise if she could just accept the constructive criticism Mrs. Tanaka gave each of us instead of thinking that she was perfect.

Two walk-throughs and I found myself dipping into freestyle dancing. I spun, leapt, did rolls and flips until I couldn't breath, letting the music in my head take over. It was loud, pounding behind my closed eyes and threatening to drown me in it unless I kept moving. The ache in my legs and my abdomen were forgotten, the headache from my restless nights a distant memory. I could see the gymnasium, feel the floor underneath my feet, so I utilized it all. I watched the girls from my old dance studio dance in time to me, appearing one by one in a line and matching my pace, my tempo. I flipped backwards, one hand touching the ground, and landed on my feet to do a roll, letting Liselle take my hand and pull me up to our line of girls. She was at ease, as always, and did a lovely flourish as I stood up, completely different from my rough standing, and grinned at me teasingly. We did the simple leg twirl, going higher and higher, and everyone was directly on par with one another, like always. We were like one unit, moving together even when we were just messing around. I couldn't help but smile. We were just dancing together, laughing. It was fun, out of any kind of order and completely imperfect; it was amazing. The girls were laughing when we finally stopped, and they started talking to me in a rush, including me in their conversations. It was a rush.

I opened my eyes, staring off into the trees and letting my heart rate fall to normal. I missed the girls at Lera May's. It always felt like one singular unit there, like a family. I made a note to write them a letter before I went to bed tonight; it had been three weeks since I'd last sent one to them.

I flinched, veering straight out of my train of thought as I recognized the still presence behind me. How had I missed her for so long?

I turned around slowly, trying to buy time for getting my thoughts in order and figure out how I was going to deal with whatever she put me through. She was just sitting on the deck, her arms folded across her chest, watching me. It was exactly how she looked when she was observing my training and I wasn't doing terrible. I didn't know how to react to her stance, her air... it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I didn't trust it at all.

"My my, aren't you a spry one? If you wanted more physical training you could have just asked." Her voice was almost light. I would have mistaken it for teasing if I wasn't so suspicious.

"You... aren't mad at me?"

"You directly disobeyed my instructions." I swallowed, almost choking when she gave me a smirk instead of a lecture. "But you did achieve the result I intended. The end result is what was important; if dancing is what gives you peace, then this is something that we can work with."

I stared at her, not comprehending the situation. I had directly done exactly the opposite of what she had told me to do and that was... okay with her? Since when was that ever okay with her?

"...Okay..." I finally answered, wincing at how lame it sounded. But really; what else was I supposed to say? I felt it was dangerous to say too much when she was in a generous mood. Instead, I walked over to where she was seated, regretting my decision to start moving as the ache set back into my muscles and groaning. "I forgot I hurt."

"You know kiddo? That doesn't surprise me." She stood up, smirking again and shaking her head, walking toward the door. I followed her, as the drill demanded, and scuttled behind her. Being closer in height meant that I could follow more slowly instead of jogging to keep up, which was nice for my body at the moment.

I sat down at the table set up in the main room, my books already set out for me. Today was reviewing for my Biology test, which was a subject that I happened to be decent at. What I was struggling with currently was heredity, specifically the idea of a Punnett Square, which was really because I kept overcomplicating the matter in my head. Apparently this was a common problem when it came to me and school. It was a long hour between now and when we could eat dinner and retire to our rooms. I couldn't wait to just lay down, write my letter, and go to bed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello! This chapter takes place entirely in Genkai's point of view. This will hopefully offer more of an explanation of why Genkai agreed to train her in the first place, and offer insight on the power Gavriella isn't aware yet that she has. Thank you for your patience with the pacing of this story, and thank you for the favorites, the follows, the reviews... you lads and ladies are awesome! **

**Genkai's Point of View**

Today had proven more fruitful than I had expected. Gavriella was exceeding my expectation of her physical abilities, but her power had yet to surface. With Yusuke, I only had to push him and he reacted on his own, but with Gavriella... she wasn't reacting the way I had expected. She was a good kid, but I assumed with her temper that she would only need to be pushed, picked on here and there and made to feel mentally drained before her power would start acting up in anger or defense. So far she had proved resilient to baiting.

What would it take to awaken her abilities?

Working her physically was doing wonders for her appetite, no surprise, which was allowing her to sleep better. The girl seemed to forget that these were essential to her survival, or for her to excel in her training, but it was something I was confident that she would continue outside of her time here. Her schoolwork was a direct link to her mental state, but providing her with constant stress in her work only increased her base understanding, and as a result was slowly increasing her confidence. It did nothing to bring out her awareness of whatever it was that was growing inside of her.

"I didn't come all of this way to train under you and I didn't come because I want you to give me all of the answers for how to live my life. I came because my cousin told me you could tell me what is happening to me. I need to know what's causing this... this... accidenti!"

That temper tantrum she had thrown had caused my cup of tea to fly off of the table, the tea splaying out in tendrils, but only for a moment. It had been years since I had seen an untrained psychic able to move an element and control it without conscious knowledge of it. It had been brief, but the burst of spirit energy was unmistakeable. My interest was peaked immediately. Anger. Frustration. These things had forced out energy she wasn't aware of let alone could control. Anger and frustration should have caused it to awaken again, to come out. But so far, she was just a kid with untapped spiritual awareness that was training under me. She held her tongue for the most part, she was respectful, and she loved to debate and hear my opinions on subjects she was learning with school. She was a normal teenager in every aspect if it wasn't for the potential hidden just under her skin.

I needed to think of what else she could have been feeling when she controlled the water in my tea. I needed to draw it out, and that singular emotion that I was missing was the key.

There was a crash, almost on cue, and I sighed, irritated that my meditation was cut short. Unlike certain blondes within the compound, meditation was key to my sanity.

She was lying on her cot, a layer of sweat coating her. The glass that had held her water was across the room lying on the ground, the water itself focused in little beads hovering around the room. This was the third nightmare that had caused her to exhibit this power, and the first to focus it so directly around her. I watched her a moment, her chest rising and falling, her sheet on the floor, her hands clutching at the mattress in desperation to hold onto something.

Desperation.

I had been thinking too low scale.

She started to convulse in front of me, like she was choking, gasping for breath. This was different from the last two times I had come in to calm her mind, where she had fought me and woken me up screaming. I knelt beside her, catching her hand when it flew back at me, finding myself launched into a world of vibrant colors. Kuwabara had mentioned that this was the reason she had come to me, but it still took me by surprise. Flames of blue and white surrounded us, burning low but solid, the fire closest to the coals. I was unsurprised by what I found, as this was familiar to me, but I was unsettled at the fact that this was the sanctuary in my own mind.

I rested her hand back down beside her when her breathing calmed, feeling the world shift back to normal. I held my head, waiting for my vision to stop spinning, and checked her vitals. That was uncomfortable. I did not take Kuwabara seriously when he told me about this.

I sat back, finishing my examination, and watched her. There was nothing physically wrong with her, which was a relief, but that still did not explain this ability. I had never heard of anyone being able to enter another person's mind, the core of who they are, with a simple touch. This was the most intriguing event that had happened in the last fifty years. Maybe I ought to get out more.

Gavriella had exhibited a fascinating awareness of where I was at all times, which was an unexpected result for, at the time, only three days of training. It made sense that her power was growing internally as well, feeding on the energy she was growing and strengthening to be able to use it when it awoke. The beads of water drew closer to her as the nightmare appeared to progress, like they were drawn to whatever was going on in her mind, or protecting her from something. Her hands stayed clenched at her sides this time, still choking for breath.

"Papà... papà per favore!" She gasped, her back arching as she struggled in her mind, her head starting to turn from side to side.

'You poor child.' I resisted the urge to touch her arm, not wishing for a repeat just yet, deciding that she had had enough. Whatever happened to this girl, it was now my direct business. I moved behind her and rested my hands on either side of her head, allowing my energy to flow through them and begin to calm her mind.

Her breathing began to regulate, color finding its way back to her face. The beads of water began falling one by one onto the floor, her mind relaxing its hold on them. Her brow smoothed, and her hands finally relaxed their clawing into the cot. I covered her with the fallen sheet, picked up her discarded glass and cleaned up the water around the room before I turned off the lights and left her to better dreams and better sleep.

Tomorrow I would break my rule and get her to talk about whatever it is that scares her so much. This fear could be the key I've been looking for, the way to force her into desperation to unlock her potential. But for now, I was going to drink some tea, reflect on the progress that was being made over the last few weeks, and possibly get some sleep.

**Translation:**

Papà = daddy

per favore = please


	16. Chapter 16

"Take your time." Genkai reminded me, and I paused, trying to keep my balance and take a breath simultaneously. This was oddly the most fun thing she had had me do in a long while.

Tight-rope walking was hell in a handbasket, but it was rewarding after a few falls and some bruises. I'd fallen six times already, but I had made it further with each attempt and was about halfway down the rope. It was terrifying to fall the first time, but I had made my peace with the fact that I would not be getting out of this exercise without at least a fractured rib or a broken ankle.

I leaned too far to the right, hissing as I tried to stabilize myself and fell hard, managing to roll myself at the last minute so the blow didn't completely take me out. It still hurt but it wouldn't be anything permanent. What was a few more bruises?

"If you're going to fall, at least you fall right." Genkai smirked, sipping her tea again.

"I think I'm done for now." I admitted, tempted to climb up again despite that I would probably break my neck. I had never given credit to tight-rope walkers before; they were some pretty impressive people. "Can we try again later?"

"I'll tell you what kiddo; if you pass your exam tomorrow I'll keep the rope up the rest of the time you're here."

"Deal!" I laughed, easing myself up and stretching. This was a fantastic change of pace to the usual, intensive training that took place, and I couldn't keep myself from smiling. "What's next on the agenda?"

"We will be following the theme of balance today. We're going to the bridge by the river."

I nodded, walking beside her with a lazy stride. Today was a good day. I hadn't felt this... good... in a long time. I felt relaxed, rejuvenated. Maybe being out here in the middle of nowhere without any distractions was good for my state of mind afterall.

She led me to the bridge down the way from the compound, silent as ever, and motioned for me to get up on the railing. I hoisted myself up, as the railing was maybe three inches shorter than my head height, and rolled my shoulders.

"Walk across." She ordered, nodding once. I did as I was told, not trusting how simple this task was. "Now close your eyes and walk across again."

I closed my eyes, going slower and feeling my way along with the tips of my toes to make sure I wasn't going to fall off, but it was once again a relatively easy task that I didn't trust.

"Now I want you to walk across in a handstand."

Okay, that was a little more difficult. I went into a handstand, gripping the sides of the rail tightly, and making my slow way over to the end. Handstands were not my favorite thing in the world, but I could do them relatively well. It took a few minutes, but I made it and touched my feet back down.

I did a handstand with my eyes closed, did front tucks and cartwheels and back hand springs down the rail, almost slipping a few times and finding myself grinning at the ridiculous tasks she was making me do. Balancing exercises were definitely my favorite of every exercise she'd thrown my way, and had been my favorite exercises since I had begun dancing. This to me, while hard work, was fun.

Then she brought out the rocks.

The first one sailed by me, barely missing my face while I ducked out of the way.

"Really?" I flipped over one handed to stand on my feet again as another one was aimed directly where my legs had just been. Those rocks were flying fast. All she was doing was flicking them, but they were almost too fast to keep up with.

"Yes, really. You should have the reflexes to avoid faster paced attacks, now quit whining and get moving." She emphasized her point by flicking yet another rock at my knees. I jumped up to avoid it, but slipped on my landing. It was very unfortunate timing, as another rock was flying my way. It made contact with my knuckle, and I released my grip on the rail out of reflex, holding tight with my other arm and cradling my now bleeding hand.

"I yield!"

She smirked, flicking two more rocks in quick succession, one grazing my leg and the other missing my head when I ducked.

"Better think quick; you won't be able to yield in real life."

I glanced at the water below me, panic setting in just listening to the waves crashing below.

"Please, the water-"

"Won't hurt you." She finished for me, whipping another rock my way. I lifted my bad hand to deflect it, yelping at the pain and shifting to get a better grip so I could roll up on the rail. The blood from my injury had gotten everywhere, however, and my arm slid in the mess. I couldn't grip onto the slippery rail as my body tumbled backwards, and I couldn't even scream as my body made impact.

I couldn't breathe. That much was to be expected, but I couldn't move either. I was rolling, the water invading my nose and mouth as I tried to right myself, flailing my arms and legs awkwardly in my attempts. I crashed into a rock in the river as it pulled me along, yelping and feeling the burn tear it's way up my side and up my arm to my shoulder.

I should have taken swimming lessons as a kid to get over this.

I could feel my heart in my temples, my lungs burning to try and inhale oxygen. I could see reflections across the top of the water, light shining through on occasion, and then the darkness that I knew would be the floor below it. I reached my arms out and tried to kick my legs hard enough to lift me up, but with every movement my vision was narrowing. I should've listened more. I should've tried to call my mom. I should've... I should've...

_"__Take your time." _Genkai scorned in my ear. How convenient, now of all times...

Black was starting to eat out the light shining through, and it wasn't like any book or any movie had said to comfort loved ones. Everything was burning and aching and my head was swimming. The pressure in the back of my head was unbearable, but I forced myself to look up regardless of how much it hurt. I pushed my arms up one last time and slammed them down as hard as I could, one last desperate attempt for momentum, and I sucked in air when the surface of the water was finally breached. I held my throat, coughing up the water that had made it's way to my lungs, and shaking with the effort that it took to keep myself up on my hands and knees. The dirt felt good in my hands, and I dug my fingers deep into it, trying to ground myself here. I was alive.

I glanced up to see where I was, and I felt another wave of panic soar through me.

The river was rushing around me. Literally. I turned around, pushing myself up to my feet and feeling my head spin. I was in the center of the river, the waves ten feet above my head at least and flowing exactly as a river should. What in the living hell...

I took a step forward, my body still adjusting to gravity, and inched toward the edge of whatever barrier was separating me from the elements. I raised my hand, heart in my throat, and the water darted from my hand, creating a perfect impression of where the appendage was. I jerked back, and the water swallowed the impression up, continuing to flow as if nothing had impeded it. I swallowed, taking a step forward and watching as once again the water shifted for me. The pressure in my head increased, my vision tunneling, and I made a run for it. I needed out of here and I needed out of here fast. The river parted for me like some biblical phenomenon, and keeping a circle around me at all times until I finally reached the shoreline. I felt the panic increase at the wall of sediment standing in my way of freedom, and screamed when the water started rising beneath my feet. Tears started falling as I started clawing at the sides with the rising water, lifting myself up somehow with the level at my neck, and grasped for the grass on the shore when it was in reach.

I was safe.

I was... safe.

What the fucking hell was going on?!

I flung my aching body to the side, away from approaching footsteps, and screamed again, unable to stop the shriek or the panic or anything else that was violating my comfort zone. Genkai stopped a healthy distance away and clasped her hands behind her back, her face unreadable.

I calmed my breathing down the best I could, watching her eyes flicker over me, gone from here and lost in her own thoughts, and rage started welling up in my chest. I was Moses in the water and she has nothing to say to me?!

"What just happened?" I demanded when she was silent for another minute. Her eyes snapped back to the present, and she made eye contact with me for about five seconds before she turned around.

"Come with me."

I stared at her while she walked, my vision tunneling again and that pressure coming right back to my head.

"No. No, you tell me whatever you need to tell me right here. I have no idea what just happened, Genkai, and I'm freaking out and I need answers right now. What did I just do?"

She paused, turning around to aim that same glare at me that had been sent my way several times when I'd disobeyed her the past two weeks.

"Why do you think I'm telling you to follow me? So we can sit soaking wet on the riverbed and braid each other's hair? Get your ass up and follow me and you just might get those answers you're stomping your foot over."

I glared, swallowing down the sarcasm and the anger the best that I could. It wasn't going to do me any good, I had to remind myself. I pushed myself to my feet, hissing at the protest my body was giving me, and made my way to her, albeit slowly. That rock did a number on my physical wellbeing.

I had to watch myself following her up the path back to the compound, and to make matters worse I had to follow her facing forwards. My balance was already questionable, but walking forwards threw everything for a loop. I tripped on every tree root and stray rock possible in my path and almost fell down twice, but I discovered that losing myself in my thoughts helped distract me away from all of this for a while. I swear something like this happened when I was a kid... a time when I was scared. I could hear myself calling out for my father, feel the water invading my nose...

I shook my head, thinking instead of whatever this might mean. I mean, seeing colors and now this thing with the water? What was happening to me?


	17. Chapter 17

"Stay still. This may hurt a bit." Genkai ordered, resting her hands over me. I swallowed, but did as she commanded, which wasn't hard. Wood floors were never more comfortable, and lying down on the shrine room floor was like what I imagined sleeping on a feather bed would be like.

I grit my teeth and tried to breathe normally at a pulling ache around my ribcage that extended to my left shoulder, and straight into my right hand. It didn't hurt so much as it felt, for the thousandth time today, invasive. Uncomfortable. It wasn't pleasant, and there was an ache for sure, but it didn't 'hurt' per se. What was fascinating was the yellow lightning emanating from her palms. It felt like putting my hands over an energy ball, the static without the pain of what electricity would really do to me. The color and the buzz of warmth reminded me of Kazuma. He had told me about her healing him, but I hadn't taken into account what it would feel like, or if it was truly even real. I had seen first hand someone who was supposedly a demon disappearing into thin air, but for a human woman to project light out her body and heal me? That was something out of a science fiction novel.

Genkai removed her hands, and I tested out my body by stretching out my bad shoulder. Nothing felt out of place or even stiff. It was just my shoulder. I glanced at my hand, finding only smooth skin where only three minutes prior she had had to dig out one of the rocks and some sediment. Even the bruises on my ribs were completely gone.

"You healed me." I stated the obvious, letting my brain grasp this concept. "How did you heal me?"

"This is one of the techniques I have worked to perfect. Spirit energy can be used for many different purposes or to achieve many different ends You just have to understand how to control your own."

"I keep hearing that term. I get the concept, but what is it, really?"

"Spirit energy is something that every human possesses, but only the spiritually aware can use. It is usually brought out when the user is feeling intense emotion, such as the fear and desperation that you felt when you thought you were going to die. It can be used as a weapon, to enhance one's strength, or to heal."

"Okay, so I was born with a limited supply and I can use it until I die or strengthen it? That's why I have to train to use whatever this is?"

"Your spirit energy needs to be strengthened, but you won't die from using it. Your life energy is what will kill you if you use it. Your spirit energy is what you use that allows you to hear me writing from forty feet away, or allows you to sense me when I'm moving around the house." I looked away. How did she know about that? "I know because I could feel your energy growing. Your reaction time increased as your spirit energy strengthened."

"It's creepy when you can tell what I'm thinking."

She smirked, but continued as if I hadn't interrupted.

"Your life energy can be used as a last resort if you use all of your spirit energy and it does not have time to recover. Your energy requires rest and recuperation the same as your body does. I would not recommend using your life energy under any circumstances."

"So humans have both spirit and life energy, but not all humans can use either one... Psychics can use spirit energy though, and life energy if they absolutely need to..." I bit my lip, laying my head back on the ground staring up at the ceiling. "So what happened..."

"What happened was your spirit energy reacting to a life or death situation. You were panicked and your energy came out to protect you." She motioned me to sit up, and I groaned but complied. "Your energy manifested itself when you are overwhelmed with emotion. And I suspect that this isn't the first time it's happened."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you first arrived here, I hadn't planned on taking you on as my apprentice. When you threw your little temper tantrum, my cup of tea conveniently was flung across the room. I admit that this was when I became curious of your potential, and sure enough your score on your ability for growth exceeded even the score of your cousin, which was extraordinary on it's own. As I have been training you, your stress has increased exponentially. I have ensured that by being particularly harsh in your schooling, pushing your mind past it's limit and exhausting you to attempt to bring out this power within you, and your resistance to it has been impressive. When you're awake, anyway."

"Be plain with me, please." I rubbed my eyes, hunching in on myself. That pressure at the back of my head was back, creeping further up my skull and finding a nesting spot in the back of my eyes, which made me rub harder to try and relieve it. It didn't work.

"You've been having nightmares." She complied, standing up and pouring herself a glass of water. "I went into your room last night during one of these nightmares and was met by levitating discs of water. You were terrified by what was going on, begging for your father. Your power reacted to your terror."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I grit my teeth, water rushing in my ears and a screaming child's voice drowning in the waves.

"You may not want to remember, but you do know. Why are you afraid of your power, Gavriella?"

"I don't have any power! Strange things happen every day. Just because I can see colors and my spirit awareness is higher than normal doesn't mean that I have some kind of magical power. You must have been tired, or dreaming. It happens all the time!" I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to push down the noise in my ears. "Why is it so loud?!"

"What do you hear?"

"The water must be in my ears... I need to go drain my ears, there's so much pressure in my head..."

"There's pressure in your head because you're suppressing something that's completely natural, and it's telling you that it's time to come to terms with it."

"You're wrong!" I pushed myself to my feet, my vision tunneling for the thousandth time today. I stayed focused on her face, feeling my body tensing to prevent it from swaying. "I don't. Have. Powers! There's nothing special about me! I'm not any different than anyone else in the world!"

"Then explain that." Genkai wiggled her finger to either side of me. I glared to the left, and felt the color drain from my face.

Two feet away from me was a levitating disc of water, bobbing gently up and down. I whipped my head to the right as well, seeing one more, and two above me. I backed away, watching them move in front of me. Genkai's empty glass of water was held in a lazy grip to her side.

"I'm dreaming." I grasped at straws to try and rationalize this. Something about this situation was terrifying to me, and I couldn't explain it in words. It was like something in my head was ripping away tiny pieces of who I was by admitting that this might really be me.

Genkai stayed silent, watching me, analyzing me. It made me uncomfortable, which sparked irrational rage in my gut.

"I just wanted answers! I didn't want this! I don't want to be different, Genkai. I just want to be normal for once." My vision got blurry, the familiar burn of tears making itself known. "I just wanted to understand what was happening to me, not encourage it. Make it stop."

"You know I can't do that."

"Why?" My voice broke, and I hated myself for it. I had never hated anything so much as I hated who I was in that moment in time. A weak, pathetic little girl looking for an easy fix to a problem she didn't know she's been avoiding. And the look in Genkai's eyes made everything so much worse. The last thing I wanted was for someone to look at me with pity, especially the woman I had grown to respect and care about in the last few weeks. "I'm sorry, I just-I don't know what to do."

The sound came over me again, the rushing of water. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, grinding my teeth to try and drown out the screaming.

'_Papà... papà per favore!_'

"I have to go." I turned and darted out of the room, making my way outside again, into the sunshine. I passed the hill and the hiking trail and made my way straight to the ring of trees that she had made me weave through a week past. The little girl was still screaming in my head, and I punched one of the trees as hard as I could, screaming myself just to drown out the noise before I went insane.


	18. Chapter 18

The sunlight danced between the leaves, shining on the water like diamonds. The wind whispered secrets to the trees and made the birds giggle. Their wings made speeding shadows on the ground, on the water, on my skin. I could imagine growing my own pair of wings and just flying away from my problems. Then again, with the dilemma at hand, maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

I tilted my head to glance at the calm surface of the most recent bane of my existence; the water. For the thousandth time since I had come to this compound I cursed Genkai. She didn't need to always be right; there was a sort of humility that came from losing. I wondered if that made me humble or a moron and turned away to look at the sky again.

After yesterday's… drama… this morning had sidelined me a little. Genkai decided to run into town, which was an oddity in and of itself, and of course she had left me alone in that quiet, boring place with the warning not to touch her games. Apparently she was working on her high scores. I had expected a lecture, the silent treatment… anything but the calm, kind warning that she would be gone all day and that I didn't have a test because I was too far ahead of the curriculum for her to test me at this point. She was being nice, and that much I didn't trust even remotely.

I had known what she was doing, of course, and being me, I had tried to defy her unspoken expectations. I danced. I trained. I freaking sat down and tried to meditate for crying out loud. Nothing was working. My heart wasn't in my routines, I couldn't make a fist due to the bruising and bleeding in my hands, and I can't meditate to save my life. There was too much going through my head to truly ignore, and I hated that she knew that.

And now I was lying on the forest floor, miles away from the compound, completely lost and moping. Hell, I was _pouting_.

Very mature, Gavriella. Very mature indeed.

I turned to the water again and lifted my hand up for the third time, making a pushing motion with my hand. Nothing happened. Again.

It didn't make sense. Yesterday I didn't want anything to do with it, and today when I'm reluctantly beginning to accept that I would never be a normal person, I can't even make a ripple. Were these abilities as defiant and sassy as I was? Or were they just something that came and went as they saw fit?

I pushed myself into a sitting position, turning myself towards the water pretzel style and staring down at my reflection. I don't know what I expected to see other than myself, but I was disappointed. Leaves were stuck in my braided hair, my tanktop was still damp with sweat, and my eyes were still ringed with red and purple from my lack of sleep. There wasn't a single special thing staring back at me. No reason that I should be anything more than a short, mixed heritage teenager living with a cranky old woman in the mountains.

I reached up to brush away stray hair blowing across my face, and felt that pressure return to the back of my head. I froze. What was it that Genkai had said? I was feeling pressure because I was suppressing the ability. I swallowed, moving my hand above the water and making a pushing motion, slowly this time. A small wave rose up and followed in the direction of the push. I was both terrified and exhilarated, which confused the living hell out of my body on how to react.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and stood up, overlooking the surface of the stream. This far up the trail it was a far cry from the raging river I had fallen into yesterday, but it was no less stunning to look at. I stared at the surface, the pressure dispersing out over my head and creating a thrumming sensation over the whole of my scalp. I watched in amazement at the small orbs, that separated themselves from the water, lifting about a foot above the surface and gliding their way over to me, circling me at all levels. I reached out and touched one passing in front of me, watching it mold around my hand and move about where I wanted. It was cool, but not damp. I expected the wet feel of... well... water, but it just passed over my skin and and molded to me.

Breathing out, I brought my hands up and watched the orbs circle into my palms, following my thoughts and combining into one single ball. I separated my left hand and watched it stretch, and shrink back, and stretch again as I moved. I couldn't stop the stupid, silly grin and spun, watching it stretch out and circle with me, following me almost flawlessly. I circled again and again and again until I couldn't breath, starting to dance faster and faster while the water in my hands formed and reformed and moved with me like a partner. It was, in a word, thrilling. I could feel the thrumming sensation trickling down my veins with my blood, circling through me. I couldn't describe what it felt like, just that I felt... alive. More than I had ever remembered feeling before. And I could just see the smug look on Genkai's face when she came back and looked at me and saw it.

Genkai...

I frowned, realizing that I didn't know how to stop this. Whatever this power was, it clearly knew better than I did, because as the thought passed through my head the string I had been playing with whisked across the surface of it's home and sank in, barely making so much as a ripple as it merged with the rest of itself once more. I looked up at the sky, nervous when I found the pinks and oranges of the sunset overhead. It was getting dark and I still didn't know how the hell to get home. Why didn't I just stay to one single trail instead of deciding to wander off? I hate how much of a Kuwabara I become when I get irritated...

I started following the stream downriver, my thought being that I at least would recognize the bridge that we trained on yesterday. I realized after a bit of walking that the relaxing breeze was starting to pick up into an uncomfortable wind, and as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off my hands were starting to throb. I felt a little sick, realizing that I had only eaten half a granola bar this morning, and sighed. The light was beginning fade, and I wasn't getting anywhere that I recognized, so I just sat down next to the beginnings of a rushing river and started unwrapping the cloth from my knuckles. It hurt like hell to peel the wraps away from my skin, and I was sweating by the time I got the damn thing off, wincing at the sight before me. The bone was showing through on two of my knuckles, the bruising was extensive, and the gouges were still oozing bits of blood. It was, in a word, disturbing.

I barely got the second wrap off without screaming, and didn't let myself think about what I was doing as I plunged my broken, bloodied hands into the water. The breath disappeared from my lungs, agony shooting up my forearms and burning all the way back down. The world stopped. There was no sound outside my heartbeat.

The tears fell when I tried to touch the wounds to clean them out. The sobs came when I touched too hard and the red of my blood started blending with reflection of the sunset, little pools and thin lines on the overall scheme of the painting on the water. I felt sick to my stomach.

"Little human girl all alone."

I whipped around, standing up and stumbling back with the speed and force of my movements. A pit dropped in my stomach; standing before me were two creatures that were not remotely human. One looked relatively like what an imp would look like if they were real, and the other like the troll under the bridge. Was the pain making me delirious?

"She'll make good sport for us with that power of hers." The troll's growl made my blood run cold. "You," It addressed me, "will run into the forest. We will chase you, and when we catch you, we will tear you apart limb by limb."

"Give us a good fight." The imp's shrill voice added, starting to laugh. I couldn't move, just stared at the two monsters before me. This couldn't be real.

The troll slammed it's massive hand into me, a shock of red blinding my vision, and sent me flying into the underbrush. I landed in a lump, curled on my side and cradling my hands to my chest. It was hard to breath, and the entire right side of my body was numb and tingling.

"No fun little human girl. Run! Give a chase!"

I heard the rustling and forced my body up. My ribs were on fire and my leg felt heavy, but they moved well enough to get me distance. I could hear their voices behind me and tried to stay as quiet as possible while I ran, my adrenaline kicking in for the third time today and starting to dull the throbbing that plagued my body. I screamed when something grabbed my leg and sent me face-first into the ground. I rolled just in time as the meat-cleaver of a hand slammed down where my body had just been lying. I kicked out wildly and heard laughter, my legs jarring with the heavy impact they made. The troll swiped, and I rolled out of the way again just for the imp-like creature to latch onto me as I moved, it's teeth sinking into my shoulder. I screamed, the red overtaking me again, and I was launched into that horribly familiar world of color and sensation that I'd come to Genkai to understand in the first place. I jerked my arms up and grabbed the creepy little thing's body, whipping it off me. It wasn't possible, but it was attached to my arm just as it's body hit the ground, claws tearing at my skin. I felt the troll grab my right leg, and kicked with my left, terror and despair warring for domination in my body.

"Pathetic human. You are too easy to catch." The troll laughed. "We will have fun tearing you apart now."

"If you wanted a chase, you should have chosen better prey." A vaguely familiar voice inclined. The monsters and I all whipped to the source, and I cursed my luck. "Hunting down such a pitiful excuse of a psychic only shows your own weakness."

"What do you mean weakness?" The troll growled, it's grip tightening on my leg. I hissed in a breath, but otherwise stayed as quiet as humanly possible. "We'll rip you apart, you puny little thing!"

Hiei sneered. "You are so pathetic you can't even sense how my power eclipses your own."

The imp squealed laughter, and the troll tossed me out of the way again. I braced myself for the impact, and the breath was still knocked out of me. Whatever Gods I pissed off today were hellbent on my suffering.

What happened next was amazing; I had just looked up to see the troll rushing in and in the next moment Hiei's body was engulfed in fire. I stared, but the troll shielded its eyes and the imp appeared on the ground, its ugly head severed from its tiny body. I blinked, and the scream of the troll was cut off. The fire burst out in a ring and incinerated it, the burnt body disintegrating where the fire had touched it. I braced myself on a tree and pushed myself upwards, grunting and ignoring the burning that once again overwhelmed me. There was nothing in front of me but the bodies, and I pushed myself away from the bark and limped over to where they laid.

They were exactly as my memory served. The imps head was twenty feet from its body, its eyes wide open, and the trolls entire torso was gone, the severed halves cauterized and lying there. If the heart had not been destroyed, the creature may very well have been alive to suffer what had happened to it. I covered my mouth, panic setting in. This was real. This was really real.

I turned, and gasped again, jumping back and crying out as my leg finally gave way. Hiei had been standing directly behind me, staring at me like he was expecting something. The look he was giving me now was nothing short of crude and filled with disgust.

"If you can't defend yourself, you shouldn't utilize your power." He stated, hands in his pockets. I pushed myself up again, slowly, and kept eye contact with him. It was unnerving, but looking away scared me more than whatever he might see in my eyes. "That display was pathetic. I should have expected as much."  
"If you hadn't been here, I would've died." I blurted, swallowing the dry patch in my throat. "Thank you."

His head snapped back, his eyes going wide. He stared at me for so a brief a second that I thought I imagined it before he turned his head to the side and gave me a dismissive vocal noise. I decided this was the permission I needed to look away, and looked at wherever I was now. It wasn't familiar.

He had started walking away from me when I turned to him again, and I panicked for the hundredth time this evening.

"Wait!" He stopped, not bothering to turn around. "I have no idea where I am. I'm sorry to ask, but could you help me one more time?"

"If you want to survive, you need to grow strong. Make it back on your own or die out here. I don't care either way." He sneered, his body crouching and vibrating. He moved so fast I couldn't see him, and I was alone again. Fuck me.

I stared at the sky for a long minute, turned around and kicked the tree behind me as hard as I possibly could, the blunt pain aggravating but nothing in the comparison to what my body had been through. I yelled, and looked down at the ground and breathed. In. Out. In. Out.

"Fuck this." I growled, limping back to my starting point by the river and heading left, the direction I assumed I was at before. I couldn't feel my hands, so that was a positive for the time being.

When I came across a trail (the first trail on this path I'd decided to take), I sighed and went to go down it. I had made it four feet exactly when a branch fell two inches in front of my face. I froze, clenching my jaw and counting to ten. I stared down at the branch in my path, touching the clean-cut of the wood where it had broken off, and turned around. I knew a sign when I saw one.

When the river finally led me to the bridge I had practiced on, I almost cried again with joy. I hurried down the trial and glanced behind me, facing the invisible presence I had felt watching me the entire walk back.

"Thank you, Hiei." I murmured quietly, smiling a little to myself and rushing back to familiar ground.


	19. Chapter 19

"There was a troll-like creature that sent me flying, like seriously _flying _through the air like I was nothing, twenty feet with a swat of its hand and an imp-like creature that bit me and moved so fast I blinked and missed it. They were trying to chase me to try and make a game out of catching their prey and tried to tear me apart but Hiei, the demon boy that my cousin and his friend know, came and saved me from them just in time and told me that I was pathetic and pretended to leave me alone but he led me back to safety anyway like I wasn't supposed to know he was there-"

"You need to stay still." Genkai sighed, interrupting my ramble, her healing lightning powers starting up again. I bit my lip, observing her stoic face while she focused on getting me to a point where breathing wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't keep quiet though, oddly enough, and changed tactics.

"How was town? Did you even go into town? Because I'm convinced that you didn't."

Her lips quirked up, and she finished her healing before she turned away from me and poured us each a cup of tea. I sat up, testing my ribs and my leg. Everything felt a little tight, and I was probably going to be somewhat sore, but nothing a little stretching and rest wouldn't fix. I accepted the tea she offered me, sipping at it and closing my eyes. My stomach wasn't sure how to process food after not having to operate at all over the course of the day.

"So your demon friend. He tried to make you think you were on your own?"

"I wouldn't say he's my friend." I treaded carefully on this topic. During the hour I had spent lying on the floor waiting for Genkai to come home, I had been thinking of the short demon boy that had saved my life for no reason other than he wanted to. He was rude and cold and distant and he hated humans. I could see it in his eyes and from all of the things Kazuma had told me, but he didn't have to come to me. Even if there was some honor streak in there somewhere, he could have let me die and I don't think he would have looked twice. "But yeah. He cut a tree branch off to stop me from going in the wrong direction, and he followed me all the way to the bridge we trained on yesterday. I couldn't feel him from there, so he probably left after I knew what way to go."

"You must have given off some strong energy to attract demons from across the forest like that." She said knowingly, sipping her tea. I glowered, but sipped mine as well and sighed.

"I gave in, just like you knew I would. After some deliberation, I've decided that this is something that I need to learn to control rather than suppress. It's only going to continue to cause me anxiety and it will get more out of control, and I can't allow that." I admitted, playing with the base of my cup. It was hot against my hands, and it soothed me a little. "I'm sorry I reacted so badly."

She didn't say anything for a long time. Her eyes unfocused a little, her jaw slackened. I wasn't really sure what to do? Her finger tapped her cup rhythmically, and it amused me that it was one of my practice songs for dance. I sipped my tea, draining the contents and burning my throat before she finally looked at me again.

"Are you going to show me what you can do or are you waiting for an invitation?" She sassed me, and I didn't miss the not-so-subtle change in conversation, but I chose to ignore it.

Instead, I took a breath and raised my hand to the kettle still warming on the small fire she'd lit. I let the tingling sensation run over my fingertips, and concentrated very hard on pulling the tea from the spout. It wobbled and splashed a little when I tried to sink it into our cups, but I grinned like an idiot anyway, feeling out of breath from that one task. She smirked, sipping it and nodding.

"Not bad, kiddo. We'll work on that tomorrow."

"You're on."

**(Three days later)**

"Keep your hands up." Genkai ordered, flicking another weird spirit rock thing from her fingers at me. I jerked my hands, and thus the water I was practicing with, up and intercepted the little thing. The first thirty-seven times she did this, the spirit rock just went through my liquid defense and hit me in the arms, the stomach, the chest, the thighs... but thirty-eight appeared to be my lucky number. I shuddered at the smallest surge of energy that tweaked at me. "Did you feel yourself absorb the energy rather than take the blunt hit?"

"Yeah... I'm not sure I liked it."

"You'll love it if you're ever in a situation where your opponent is stronger than you are." She flicked seven more quickly at me, and only the first one suckered me in the sternum. I couldn't feel it as the glowing of her energy absorbed through my water and somehow managed to reach me from a foot away. "How did you do it?"

"I got irritated with you hitting me repeatedly so I essentially just went with the blow instead of trying to go against it. Like if someone punched me in the face, I would turn my face with their fist and retaliate instead of trying to turn into it."

"An interesting analogy, but accurate enough. Energy absorption is a nifty trick to have on your side, and something that isn't wise to utilize until you can do it correctly. Tomorrow we'll start your physical training; you need to know how to fight using your spirit energy rather than separating it."

She turned around, so I let the water drop down to the ground and followed her inside and into the kitchen, watching her prepare lunch.

"So you can combine spirit energy with normal things like just kicking or yelling?"

"You'd be shocked what you can do when your spirit energy reaches a proper strength. You could send grown men running with their tails between their legs with just a glare if you wanted."

I couldn't help but grin. It was strange now, working on building up my spirit strength and endurance. I was pretty crap so far at doing anything that didn't involve playing around, and that definitely involved fighting, but up until four days ago I wasn't even aware of what I could do let alone be able to accept this power, and in return, lose any feeling of normality I had ever gathered for myself. It was... invigorating to say the least. How had I ever convinced myself that 'normal' was what I wanted to be? And yet... there was still that darkness lurking in the back of my mind that whispered doubts, urged me to stay complacent and sedentary. It was... conflicting...

"Genkai..." I started, unsure of what it was exactly that I wanted to ask. "The demons that attacked me... they knew where I was because I used my abilities; why haven't I drawn anymore attention? Is it because I'm here?"

"You emit a particularly strong energy when you utilize your power." She admitted, handing a bowl of rice to me and walking out to the next room. "It's highly unusual for it to be so strong when you're so inexperienced. In my compound, you are safe; the wards I have keep out most undesirables. Outside of the compound, you will often have to fight as you did in the woods, and like Yusuke and Kazuma you will only grow the more that you fight and hone your skills."

"So every time I use it, I'll be putting people in danger." I pulled my braid over my shoulder, playing with the end of it as I thought.

"Don't underestimate your friends and your family." She put two glasses on the table next to the bowls, and I washed my hands in thought. "Two waters will be fine."

I nodded, focusing past my exhaustion from the day, and lifted my hands up to direct the water flow to the glasses. I tried to keep steady, but half the water ended up spilling out. I grunted, irritated, and swept the mess out of the kitchen and onto the plants just outside. This had become our ritual. If we had anything to drink that wasn't tea, it was water, and I provided it this way. If we had tea, I provided the water for the process of making it. It was great practice for me, and great amusement for her.

I sat down and poked my rice, feeling slightly irritated because I wasn't getting any better with something as simple as setting water down in a glass and wondering if I should practice before again before bed tonight.

"You're improving." Genkai smirked. "Quit pouting."

"I'm not pouting."

"Alright."

"I'm not!"

"You're very defensive."

I stuck my tongue out, feeling a smile betraying me. "I have to be defensive with you; you're too stubborn for me to be a pushover."

"You must be mistaking me for you on that particular matter."

I grinned, and froze with my rice halfway to my mouth.

"There's someone here."

Genkai sipped her water, calm and completely unfazed. "He's late."

"So we're... cool... with someone coming to the compound?" I hesitated to ask, but my curiosity was spiked. "We're not attacking this mysterious person coming into the compound? Was this someone you met on your theoretical trip to town?"

"Hardly." She smirked, turning on the television and sipping her tea. The news was quiet, the rays from the television a strange contrast in the usually quiet room. I should have guessed that there would be at least one television in this place that wasn't meant specifically for video games, but it was still strange seeing her viewing the outside world.

I should have expected him, but for some reason seeing the greasy haired kid with a scowl on his face had me astounded.

Yusuke walked in, seeming not to see me as he walked straight up to Genkai and kept his eyes trained on her.

"It's about time you came back." She said after a few moments of letting him (and me) sweat it out. "Please tell me you've gotten a little better."

He ground his teeth staring at her, and she sipped at her tea without a care in the world. I could see in her stance how serious she was, however, after all of this time with her, and I watched the reel starting to spin through her mind about how to train this punk.

"This time I won't go easy."

"It's different this time." He assured her. "I promise I'll push as hard as I can."

I stared between them, watching the tension grow. I bit my lip, not sure how to either make my presence known or leave the room without attracting the attention. This was a questionable situation, and of course Genkai solved all of my problems.

"Go put your things away. I must speak to Gavriella."

Yusuke's eyes rested on me for the first time, and his back straightened at not recognizing me right away. I waved halfheartedly to him, and came to sit in front of Genkai, my hands on my knees. This was guaranteed to transition easily from awkward to fascinating, I had no doubt.


	20. Chapter 20

"So he has no choice but to go and participate in this tournament. He and Kazuma both will have to fight and risk their lives just because they managed to make a few people angry?"

"The committee board is infamous for hating humans that pose a threat to their system. For centuries they have been controlling this tournament, creating a sort of peace between humans and demons in their lust for bloodshed so they can continue to use demons at their will, to torture them and keep them under their thumb. The weaker of the demons, anyway. To be ordered to the tournament means that they stepped on toes that even they might have underestimated in their impatience. I can't promise their survival, but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure that Yusuke is prepared mentally as well as physically, and that Kazuma will strengthen his resolve as well as his powers before the day comes where they are forced to step onto that boat."

I bit my lip, chewing to try and alleviate some of the stress and tasting blood in my mouth. She raised her eyebrow at me, and I resisted rolling my eyes but released the hostage bit of skin.

"There's no way out of it, is there?"

"No. There isn't."

I nodded, closing my eyes and trying to calm my heart down. My cousin was an idiot, but he was a good guy. And while he was a tank of a human being, he wasn't going to fare well against a hoard of demons, if my own limited experience was any indication. It was terrifying to think of him out there, choking on his own blood or his limbs torn off, his eyes lifeless and staring into the chasm of darkness that was the only remainder of what his life once was. I clenched my fists and let out a breath, standing up and walking out to the porch.

The sun was setting. It felt symbolic, like the ending of my cousin's childhood and potentially his life. I had never resented something so beautiful in all of my life, and kicked training bag next to me as hard as I possibly could, watching the sand fly and the bag skid on the ground away from me. Any other day I would have been celebrating or staring like a moron or anything other than feeling progressively more angry about this situation.

"Is there any way that I could go in his place?"

"You already know the answer to that question, kiddo. It was he that was chosen, and he that must go."

"He's a kid!" I whipped around to face her, watching our glasses fly into the opposite wall. "What kind of monster would force two boys barely passed puberty to fight for their lives?! It's cruel, it's unbelievable!"

"It's what monsters do." She motioned me to sit down again, and it took my legs a few moments to obey. I sank down in front of her, deflating as I did so. "Monsters come in every species, Gavriella. In demons, in animals, and in humans. And sometimes, to defeat a monster, you have to play their game. That is what happens now; the boys will all of them play this game, they will fight for their lives and the lives of everyone they care about, and in the end they will have to rely on their training and their resolve to win. Only then will they be free from them, and perhaps then they will be able to kill them."

"I don't want Kazuma to have to do anything of the sort. He's not a killer, Genkai. He's a punk, he's dumber than a box of rocks, and he thinks he's Billy Badass, but he's a sweet boy. Killing someone will destroy what's left of his innocence."

"And to live the rest of his life, perhaps that is what he will have to do. Your cousin is stronger than you give him credit for. You are too. Put your faith in him, help him, and make sure he can hold his own. You're only as strong as your weakest member; don't let him be the weakest in the group."

I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling parts fall out of the braid, and pulled hard on the end of it. I wanted to scream and cry and throw a fit, but what good would it do? She was right. Kazuma was in way over his head, and as his older cousin it was my responsibility to take care of him and make sure that he could stand on his own in this endeavor. It didn't stop the desire to hide him in every way I possibly could, but I doubted anything would ever stop that instinct. He mattered too much for it to stop.

"So what happens now?" I caved. "You can't focus your time on both Yusuke and I, and as you said, I need to help beat Kazuma into shape."

"I am taking Yusuke on again to train him." She confirmed. "I know that we had a deal, but with the events standing as they are, I am going to have to end our training. However, I did promise to answer all of your questions if you underwent my training. We've discussed much in the last couple weeks; I will answer one more of your questions."

I didn't even hesitate. The question was out of my mouth before my mind had time to process it. There was no reason to ask her, and there was no way that she could answer it. Maybe I just needed to say the words out loud and someone to acknowledge them. Maybe I was stircrazy from my little temper tantrum. Whatever the case, I asked the question that I had been waiting to ask and too afraid to know the answer to since the day I first came here.

"Why did you agree to train me in the first place? You've had thousands of people ask you to train them, you knew that my family line held whatever power this is... what made me so different?"

She smiled, shaking her head like she wasn't surprised.

"You came to me with a question about a power that I couldn't place. This is unusual; I have been around a long time, came into contacts with a lot of demons and psychics both, and I have never met anyone who saw into someone's soul when they came into physical contact with them. I was intrigued. When I rejected you, I realized that your power had barely tapped the surface of it's potential. You had so much buried underneath your consciousness that you weren't even aware existed, had been rejecting so long that you had repressed memories surrounding what you could do. Following an apprentice that had disappointed me with his arrogance and his lack of desire to learn what he had rightfully earned the right to inherit, this made me curious of if I could bring out what you could do. Your ability to improve is higher than I have ever seen, and I wondered if I could teach you my abilities. Yusuke is my successor, and he will be granted my power when his body can handle it, but I don't want my abilities to die with me. If I could teach them to you, I would have the perfect balance of power and skill passed on in this life, and I could rest with the knowledge that these skills would not be forgotten."

"You took me on knowing that I was a Kuwabara; that was risky business in and of itself."

"It was. You and your cousin are different, Gavriella, despite your similarities. You are patient, capable of learning from your mistakes the first time around, and you have a mind for strategy. True, you have a temper, and yes you have the unmistakeable mouthiness that seems to be inherited, but you have a level of control that is higher than that of most children your age. You have pain and frustration that is written all over your face and your body, you have fears that have rooted so deeply they may never be purged. All of this can break you or make you stronger. It is not in the Kuwabara family to let anything break them."

I sighed, rubbing my palms over my thighs. I wanted to ask so many questions, a little annoyed at asking a question that was so arbitrary, but something in my chest relaxed at hearing words of praise that raised a blush to my face instead of harsh words of indifference. To my elders, that was the best I had begun to hope for in their opinions of me.

"I should probably pack my things and head down to the bus stop."

"You can head out in the morning. I'll let you get to sleep early tonight, ease your mind before you leave for home." She stood up, going to her shelf with my schoolwork. "You're ahead in your classes; that doesn't mean that you should relax on your studying. You still need work on your reading."

"My headaches have been minimal since the first week being here. If being a psychic martial arts expert in the middle of the woods doesn't work out for you, you should consider being a teacher." I sassed gently, accepting the books and papers she stacked into my arms. She shook her head, but I noticed the smile. She was going to miss my constant sass.

"I'm starting Yusuke's training at sunrise; I won't be able to walk you down."

"I'm a big girl; I can handle it."

"You're a klutz who walks backwards; call me overbearing for worrying about your safety on your own."

"I'm going to miss you, Genkai." I admitted, setting my things in one arm and hugging her without thinking about it. She stayed stiff for a moment, but touched my shoulder with one hand after the shock of being touched wore off. "You're cranky and have little mercy, but I'm going to miss you."

"Get some sleep, Gavriella." She urged, her eyes uncharacteristically soft. I smiled, nodding and turning to go to my room.

I was going to miss her, and I was going to miss this place. I don't even know when it changed, but it felt like I had been here for years. In a strange, corny, cliche way, this place had started feeling just a little bit like home.


	21. Chapter 21

It was weird being home. First of all, nothing had changed. I don't know what I was expecting, but being gone for sixteen days made me think that something would be different. Everything was different in the sense that Kazuma was lying to his sister and was now undergoing training to strengthen his body for the tournament that I was still terrified would kill him, but the house was still moderately taken care of, my room was still in the same order as I'd left it in, and no one on my dance team had practiced the routine that I had been practicing in my spare time at the compound. My teachers were still ignoring me, my classmates still gave me weird looks, and my cousin still felt the need to walk me to the entrance of his school before he let me go on my own.

Everything was so... normal.

I felt like a character out a comic book being thrown into a different world.

Everything had changed in me. I had already read the chapters assigned to us in class, my comprehension had increased, my grades seemed to be on a rise, and I was lacking interest in the idea of moving on in the world of dancing, the only thing in my life that had ever made me feel confident about myself and who I was. Watching the screw-ups of the girls was like watching a train-wreck in slow motion; disastrous and predictable. Mrs. Tanaka had started to notice my declining interest, and I passed it off as not feeling well since coming back, which wasn't completely a lie. I was lying awake every night thinking about the possible fates of Yusuke and Kuwabara, the demon Hiei and the red-haired Shuichi, whom had been oddly absent from the routine we'd had of walking home together. I couldn't blame him, as I'd been gone without a word for a little over two weeks, but it was disconcerting knowing that I had no idea what was going on in anyone's lives right now. This tournament was slowly consuming everything, and I couldn't do anything to help.

I rolled over on my bed for the dozenth time, staring out the window and watching the stars twinkle innocently. It was torture; I had been home for a week now, and every night I felt an odd pushing and pulling sensation with every heartbeat. I felt like I needed to go outside, exist within the night. It wasn't good to go out alone at night in the city, which was why I hadn't so far, but it was getting harder and harder to resist with every minute ticking by. I wanted to climb out the window, run like hell, and just exist. I couldn't sleep with all of the noise, all of the stress and all of the questions.

I groaned, rolling over and quietly creeping out of my bed. I changed into a pair of jeans and pulled a sweater over my sports bra, tiptoeing to my pile of clean clothes and picking up a pair of socks before I crept out into the hallway. I wouldn't go far... I would take some protection and I would be back before anyone could miss me. In theory, this would work out spectacularly. In reality, I was probably going to get caught, get hurt, or severely regret my life decision for the night. Hell, it would most likely be any combination of the three with my luck.

On the off chance that Shizuru would wake up to find me gone, I scribbled down a note that I was going out for a walk and that I would be back soon, writing down the time just for good measure. It was my experience that, in the case that your older cousin might find out your late-night mischief and skin you alive while your screams echoed off the walls, it was always better to provide as much information beforehand as possible, so that some rational part of said cousin's brain may decide to only take a pound of flesh instead of the whole suit.

Equipped with a flashlight, the metal baseball bat in the closet, and the house key, I grabbed the bike I was using currently and started off. The wind felt like heaven on my skin, relieving some of the achy, stuffy feeling I was having in that suffocating room. It was always too hot or too cold; how could those maniacs live with extremes? I could feel the sweat on my brow cooling the second the bike had started moving, and I pulled my hood up to try and at least partially hide my gender in case I ran into any punks. I didn't know where I was going yet, but it was damn well going to be somewhere I could hear myself think for a minute.

I was lucky; there was almost no one out on the path that I decided to take, and the few people that were on it were either people going home from late night work or kids like me who decided to risk sneaking out past their bedtime. It was cute, watching people my own age holding hands with lovers, talking about everything and nothing, blushing and acting innocent and shy when they both knew that nothing but stolen kisses and long conversation would happen. Others were less innocent with their intentions, but I always loved watching the shy ones. Something about their naive mannerisms always restored some of the faith I had in people and made me hopeful for the idea of finding my own partner one day. If the kids that blushed every time the opposite gender looked their way, someone like me should be able to find someone my speed too, when the time came that I was ready for that.

I pulled off to the side after a while of not seeing anyone out, parking myself underneath a bridge just out of the way of the general public. The moon was full tonight, shining bright and beautiful despite the city lights all around. I let my hand start to move, allowing that pressure to build behind my eyes and watching the streams of water pull upwards with my fingertips. I grinned, lifting my other hand and pulling up a column, twirling and bringing it around me in one fluid motion and trying out my footwork. Genkai had told me that I needed to control what I could do without thinking about it before I could learn to fight. She said that it would take time, but if I was going to help Kazuma, time was something that I didn't quite have the luxury of.

I went through some of the exercises Genkai had put me through as well as my entire dance routine before I finally pushed the water back into itself, still spilling it at the end. A thin layer of sweat made the air that much colder, and I shivered to try and get some friction going.

"You get a kick out of watching me make an ass of myself?" I called to the familiar presence I felt watching me.

I turned around, almost jumping out of my skin at the red eyes glowing in front of me. How the hell did he do that?

"I had hoped that your stumbling about would amuse me. On the contrary; I'm quite bored." Hiei condescended, his hands in his pockets. I twitched, an unfortunate family trait when we were irritated, and cleared my throat.

"Sorry to disappoint you." I ground out. "Look, I just wanted to thank you for leading me back to the compound."

His brow furrowed, a slight movement I would have missed if I hadn't been making eye contact, and his lips tightened in either anger or confusion. I couldn't really tell with him. "I told you that you would have to find your own way back; why would I go out of my way to save you?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But I do know it was you that sent the branch down in my path and made me turn around when I tried to stray. You didn't have to, but you stayed behind and guided me back despite your warnings, and you tried to make me think that I was on my own. I appreciate it. I would have been lost in those woods until dawn if you hadn't. So thank you."

He stared hard at me, seeming to analyze every breath I took before he closed his eyes and turned around as if to leave.

"You're thinking too much. When you're utilizing your ability, don't think about what you want the water to do; just do it."

I couldn't help the grin that pulsed forward, pulling my sweater tighter to keep out the chill. "Wow, I didn't know you could actually say something nice."

"It's advice you should follow. If you can't do something as simple as that, you shouldn't be wasting your time."

"That's more like it." I shook my head, looking up again and seeing that he was gone. I wasn't surprised.

I rolled my shoulders, feeling a different kind of pressure behind my eyes. Grabbing my bike, I headed home, snuck into my room, and was asleep before my head hit my pillow, the sounds of rushing waves filling my ears and the self-satisfied smirk of a certain demon fading away with my consciousness.


	22. Chapter 22

**I am very sorry for the massive delay in this chapter. I have been throwing myself into work and finding myself struggling with doing much of anything that used to provide me comfort since my mother died, but I think that my spark is back, and at least in part, some peace has been made. I will updating more often, and I am sorry about the length of this chapter. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story, and for the reviews. You are all amazing! 3**

"The average teenager is asleep until at least noon on a Sunday." Shizuru informed me, pouring her cup of hot coffee. I yawned, shrugging and sitting myself down at the table.

"The average teenager doesn't have a cousin whose snores vibrate their walls."

She smirked, turning around and handing me a bowl and some cereal. I took it gratefully, pouring myself a generous helping and digging in. She tucked in across from me, taking a long sip of her coffee and setting it next to a familiar piece of paper still resting on the table. I felt the blood drain from my face, and her eyes stared calmly into mine.

"You have a nice ride?"

"...Yeah. I rode out to the bridge outside the city and got some fresh air."

"Bring a flashlight and a knife with you?"

"A flashlight and the bat in the closet." I confirmed, directing my attention back to my cereal.

"You've been off since you came back. Kazuma's been acting strangely, fighting more often and most likely losing by the looks of the bruises he comes back with. What's going on?" Shizuru dove straight in, crossing her arms and resting them on the table. I sighed, pushing my bowl away and fiddling with my fingers.

"I'm not 100% myself. I just know that he wants to be stronger, tougher. I'm worried about what's going on with him too. I was thinking of... I don't know... following him around from here and just making sure he isn't doing anything too stupid."

She eyed me up, narrowing her gaze in on me when she picked up the half-truths I was giving her. I hated lying to her, making her suspect anything. It didn't feel right.

"I don't like it." She sighed, grabbing my bowel to take to the sink. "But if you promise me that you'll keep an eye on him and that you'll tell me if anything serious happens... I won't push too hard. But you have to swear to me that you'll keep your end of the bargain. And that if push comes to shove, you'll make him listen to you."

"I promise." I stood up, rubbing my arms awkwardly. "I'm going to clean a little. You need any help down here?"

"I just need you to make me a list of anything you need from the store. It's shopping day; I'm heading out to the store in a few minutes. Kazuma loses out this week by sleeping in."

I smirked, writing down granola bars, water, and my trail mixes, and gave her a quick hug before heading back upstairs to my room. I dusted around, put away my clean clothes, made my bed, the whole nine yards. Which took about an hour after the vacuuming was done and my bookshelf was reorganized. I clicked my tongue, wondering what else to do with my day, when I heard Kazuma's door open and close. Curiosity, maybe duty, got the better of me, and I peaked out of my room to see Kazuma dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, glancing around like a kid who knew he was going to get in trouble, and 'snuck' rather loudly down the stairs. I hesitated, but threw on my green sweater before rushing out after him. I struggled with my socks and shoes, but I was behind him in a decent amount of time, the goon not bothering to rush off after he was already outside and casually pedaling his bike. I trailed behind him, keeping a safe distance and trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.

Kazuma skirted around the edges of the city and straight into the forest, a half hour bike ride, and parked against some trees before starting a hike. I followed, being as quiet as possible and finding myself thanking Genkai for making this a cake walk, and hid behind a tree when he walked into a cleaning toward the top of the rock formation. He walked around for a few minutes, and then the sound of wood slapping against skin made me jump out of my skin, followed very closely by a yelp from Kazuma.

"Your reflexes are appalling. Block me." Hiei's voice commanded, another slap following suite. I felt my mouth fall open slightly, and I thumped my head quietly against the tree trunk. Of course it would be Hiei. Why wouldn't it be this specific demon that was training my cousin to be able to handle the upcoming tournament? It wasn't like there were a plethora of them around to get him into shape.

I winced at the hits that echoed out, Kazuma's grunts of pain hurting my heart. Tough guy or no, he was still my little cousin.

It felt like a lifetime before I sensed him falling to the ground on his knees, his hands kneading the grass and his breath short, choppy. That was the only sound for a long moment, before I felt a small breeze brush my face and my body dropped to the ground, barely avoiding the impact of a long piece of bamboo against the tree where my shoulders were just pressed. I kicked my leg out mostly out of spite, wincing at how pathetic the movement was, and felt a hand grip my ankle. Hiei stood like he was waiting for me to see that he was holding it, and then flicked his wrist casually. I squeaked, my body flipping once in the air and rolling across the grass like I was a ragdoll. Hell, to him I probably was.

"I told you not to think about what you're doing." He scolded.

I forced myself to stand up, rolling my shoulder and opening my mouth to respond when I noticed Kazuma bowling towards me and I jumped backwards in automatic defense.

"Before you say anything, you had Shizuru and I worried." I crossed my arms before he could say anything and stood my ground at his glare. "You should have told me about the tournament right when I got back, but you hid it from me. What did you expect me to do?"

"How did you know about the Dark Tournament?!" Kazuma snapped. "And if you knew about it, why didn't you say anything before now?!"

"Perché non avrei dovuto venire in esecuzione dopo che per me di dire le cose !" The infamous Kuwabara temper flared up, so I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down. "You should have told me from the start, especially since I'm in on your little world now. We're family, Kazuma, not rivals; you need to keep me in the loop if I'm going to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me; I'm fine."

"Right, because Shizuru can't put you through the wall anytime she damn well pleases. I'm the only buffer you have right now from her kicking your ass ten ways to Sunday, and I'm tempted to let her do it with the performance you're giving."

"Like you could do better?"

"As amusing as this little human quarrel started, I'm bored and have better things to do." Hiei cut in, drawing our attention back to the real person in charge. "You, go over to the other end of the clearing and work on your defenses." He ordered me, and turned to Kazuma. "You get back in the clearing so we can continue this embarrassing display."

"I'm staying?"

"If you can skulk around in the woods spying on others, you can be put to work doing something useful." He stated, turning to waltz back to the clearing. Kazuma glared at me again, but followed anyway, muttering to himself. I stared at them for a second, and decided it would be best to simply do as the height deficient demon said.

**Translation:**

**Perché non avrei dovuto venire in esecuzione dopo che per me di dire le cose ! = Because I shouldn't have to come running after you for you to tell me things!**


	23. Chapter 23

"I don't see the point behind it, but fine." I sighed, taking the bracelet from Akari and tying it around my wrist.

"The point is that now we are connected as a team." Akari smiled, her delicate features reassuring and patient. "It will help us become one, to be great together."

"I see." I nodded, eager to get out of here. Akari was a nice girl, but she could be very pushy with how she felt and she was getting progressively more odd as time was going on. Maybe it was partially my fault for being so anxious to train again, to feel like I was progressing as a human being instead of remaining stagnant. "This is incredibly thoughtful of you. Thank you, Akari."

She smiled, nodding and dancing off to the other girls. Half of us had the strange, multicolored bracelets on our wrists with the wooden bead in the center, while the other half were actively avoiding getting cornered by the strange girl. I sighed, closing my locker and pulling on my hoodie.

Outside was dreary, chilly even, and it smelled like rain. I could FEEL that it was going to rain.

"It's been a while. I was wondering when you would show up again." A familiar voice rang behind me, and I jumped, whipping around and grinning at the redhead I had been dying to see again.

"Shuichi!" I jogged back to him, having to stop myself from hugging him. "Everything happened so quickly that I didn't get to tell you that I was leaving. Did my cousin at least let you know?"

"I'm afraid Kuwabara was rather quiet on the details of your absence. He just said that you were training and that he couldn't say more until you returned." He smiled back, adjusting his bag. "I trust everything is well?"

"A lot's changed." I admitted. "I don't feel like the same person that I was a month ago. It's very strange, but at the same time I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. How about you? What have you been up to as of late?"

"Oh, nothing of interest." He brushed off, waving his hand to indicate that we should walk. I did my best to keep a straight face at the lie. He obviously wasn't aware that I knew yet. Interesting that Kazuma didn't tell him.

"Really? I would have thought you'd be up to your nose in preparing." I pried, eyeing his reaction. He looked confused, lifting a brow at me. "You know, for testing week. Your time must be filled with studying and books."

"Ah, yes. Preparation is key." He smiled, nodding to the left. I walked closer to him to avoid the pole coming up and backed away when we had passed, staring up at sky and sighing.

"It's going to rain tonight." I threw out, toying with the string on my wrist.

"How can you tell?"

"It's my psychic power." I joked, grinning at the slight tensing of his jaw that I would have missed entirely if I hadn't been paying attention. "Don't you have any special powers, Shuichi?"

You must be reading a lot of science fiction. You have a delightful imagination."

He was good at deflection, that much I would give him. I tried another tactic; he had to give it away at some point, didn't he?

"Aw! Look! What a cute little fox!" I pointed randomly at one of the buildings we were passing. He craned his neck around to see where I was pointing, and I pouted. "You missed him. He was adorable. I love foxes. Do you like foxes, Shuichi?"

"Are you alright? You're acting very strange." He stopped, cocking his head at me and glancing me over with concern in his eyes. I sighed, giving up on trying to bait the expert and deciding for the more straightforward approach. Now it was just a guess on how he would react.

"I admit it; you're better at mind games than me. I learned a lot during my time away. I know about the tournament, and the stakes involved. I just don't know what to do to help because I'm still weak as it is and Kazuma refuses to fight with me because I'm a girl. Is there anything that I can do?"

"So it's you. I was wondering why there was such a vast improvement in his mood as of late." A smile flitted across his face before falling back into contemplation. "I would keep doing exactly as you are doing now. Morale is more important than you think, Ella. Your cousin needs your support and sarcasm now more than ever I think. And the amusement keeps Hiei on track. Just know that you can't change what's already in motion, and to go easy on Kuwabara if he loses his temper or is acting strangely; the pressure on everyone is immense."

I nodded, starting to walk again and staring at him as he followed suite. "I don't know how to ask this politely, so I'm sorry that this sounds insensitive; I don't understand the situation with you. You were a human who was possessed by a demon? Are you a psychic, or a demon, or a hybrid of some kind?"

He laughed out loud, his head falling back, and I couldn't help but smile at the amusement that I had caused. I liked when emotion showed through that icy exterior.

I thought of the crimson eyed demon that was training Kazuma and I in the woods, his face when he was amused at my temper or how he shook his head and smiled when I failed at what he wanted and I assessed the situation and tried again. Just the images made my heart pound, and I felt heat spread through my chest and up to my face.

"It's a very long story." Shuichi brought my attention back to the present.

"Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

"I think it would be better to have this conversation somewhere more private is the more forward way of saying it."

"Then tell me about your family while we're walking. You said the last time that I saw you that your mother was going to remarry and that you had a little brother because of it. What's he like? Do you two get along?"

He shook his head, smiling. "You are extremely forward yourself, Ella."

"That's what happens when you're raised in another country." I countered, adjusting my own backpack. "I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours."

"I suppose this is sufficient." He teased, relaxing and launching into the subject of his little brother while he walked me to the woods instead of home. I smiled at his observations and laughed at how different a culture I was living in.


	24. Chapter 24

"I swear to all that is good in this world, if you throw one more goddamn orange at me I'm going to punch you."

Hiei smirked, shaking his head and disappearing from my view. I grit my teeth and tried to find some sort of center. I could feel the pressure in the back of my head as always, but in the last few weeks I had noticed that it had begun to alter from resembling a headache to a constant thrumming that I scarcely noticed anymore. I felt connected to most of what was happening around me the more my awareness grew, the more I learned and the more I practiced. This was exactly what I missed when I left the compound, and what was quickly becoming the bane of my existence once more.

I brought my hands up in defense, cutting an orange in half that was flying at me, and dodging out of the way of another that I sensed coming right up behind me. I rolled, listening to the sound of fruit connecting with the ground where my head had just been, and did a back handspring to avoid a few more, bringing up a wall around me, catching another three. I let out a breath and sent a spiral of water out in the direction I felt him in.

Nothing.

I squeaked, feeling hands wrap around my arms and pull me down, weight pinning me to the ground.

"Still weak."

"I am not!" I wriggled about, trying to loosen his grip. Hiei didn't budge, didn't even tighten his grip. He just stared down at me in amusement.

"Then why can't you escape my hold?"

'Because I don't want to' was the first thought that came to mind, and I tensed my jaw to stop myself from saying that out loud. Where the hell did that come from?

He lifted a brow at my silence, releasing me from his grip standing a few yards away from me with a single blink. I forced myself upward and found that I couldn't look him in the eye, my face red and unbearably warm.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"Shut up." I took my stance again, swallowing hard. "Let's go again."

He smirked, disappearing again, and I breathed out slowly to calm down my heart.

A lot of bruises and a good deal of exhaustion later, I was curled up on the ground with every intention of making it my new bed. I could hear Hiei practicing in the background, destroying bits and pieces of the woods on his warpath and creating chaos with his every move. It hummed as background noise at most, lulling me off further.

"_Papà... papà per favore!_" _I screamed, the water dragging me into the current. I saw a child identical to Kazuma out of the corner of my eye start running toward me before my head went under. I waved my arms, desperate to get above water so I could breath, but something kept pulling me down tugging at my ankles. It started to burn me, wrapping ahold of me tightly and keeping me below. My head was swimmy, foggy, and I would have cried if I could have just one good breath. My hands were small, a child's hands, and I whipped my head around. This was all so terrifying, so familiar. _

"_What a fascinating child." _

_I looked up and fear filled my body. I was moving without control, just a trapped observer in the field. There was a man in the water, a man with teal colored hair and glowing amber eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he stared at me with so distant yet observant a gaze that I felt the pressure in my head grow. _

"_You come too soon, little girl. Don't worry; you will still be of use to us. Grow strong, and we will see you when your power has had time to manifest properly." His voice was like silk, gentle and flowing over me. White light... my lungs were going to burst... _

_My hands came up to my throat, and my vision started to darken, the surface of the water broken and rippling as people tried to dive and reach me. I was too far down..._

_Air released itself from my mouth, bubbles floating to the surface above me. Why wasn't I moving? He smiled, his lips promising the wonders of the world while a cold hell burned in those warm colored eyes. _

I sat upright, dragging air in as fast and hard and greedily as I could, whipping around to look about me. Trees, grass... no water... fuck...

I sank into the trunk of the tree behind me, closing my eyes and pressing my fingers into my scalp to try and calm myself down. It was just a dream. A terrible, realistic, horrifying dream wasn't going away no matter how hard I shut my eyes or dug into my head to tear the image away. It felt like the second I took my hands away my skull was going to come off into pieces, shattering away with reality.

Hiei's eyes met mine the second I was confident that none of this was going to actually happen, and I jumped, dizziness hitting me. My obnoxious breathing was the only sound between us. I swallowed, breaking eye contact to make myself stand up without shaking like a leaf.

"Sorry..." I mumbled finally, my heart calming down to an almost normal pace. He stood as well, hands going into his pockets and walking away from me like he always did when we were done for the day.

"Get stronger." He stated, disappearing within the treeline. I shook my head, turning around and heading to my bike, jerking my hood over my head as the wind finally decided to pick up. It was a long trek back home, the wind against me for most of the way, and storm clouds rolling in with a menacing drum of thunder. I just wanted to go home and take a shower.

Apparently the fates were not listening to my pleas this year.

"Where were you?" Kazuma pounced on me the second I closed the door, his arms crossed and a glare present on his face. "You were out training with that shrimp again weren't you? I thought you were going to stop when he stopped training me. Why are you still going out there to be beat on when you aren't even involved with what's going on?"

I debated answering, I really did, but I couldn't remember the order the questions flew out at me in so I decided to take the high road and move around him to go upstairs, not saying a word. Kazuma, as socially dense as ever, didn't take the hint and proceeded to follow me.

"Walking away from this isn't going to solve anything! You can't just do whatever you want when you want to do it! Shizuru didn't know where you were, and she takes that out on me, so whatever you're doing affects me." I continued to ignore him, moving to open my bedroom door. He stepped in front of me, blocking my way in with a serious look on his face. "I'm not kidding around, Ella. You should have stopped coming before you started."

"Articulate as ever I see." I finally caved, crossing my arms to mimic him and copied his stance in irritation. "What's the point of this, Kazuma? You never bombard me like this, or make this big of a fuss. What's really going on?"

"I don't like you being around him alone. What if he gets mad and decides to kill you?" He demanded. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and moved around him to get into my room and to my dresser.

"I would have to get on his nerves half as badly as you do for him to want to kill me, Kazuma. Unlike you, I have the ability to interact with other living creatures without throwing punches at first sight."

"Ella, you don't... LIKE him, do you?" Kazuma's gaze burned into my back, and I bit my lip hard. This was getting more uncomfortable with every word spoken.

"It's not really any of your business." I mumbled, pulling off my sweater and tossing it in the hamper. I grabbed a t-shirt and some sleeping pants to change into, grabbing my bag holding my shampoo and body soap as well and shoving them inside.

"Because he's a bad guy, cous. He kills people! He tried taking over the world! You can't trust a guy like that; he's scary and will bite off your head when you turn your back!"

"I think you're a little too quick to judge because you don't like him." I snapped, my patience unequipped to handle this right now. I turned to face him again, feeling my face getting red. "You don't know him, Kazuma. You treat him like crap and expect him to be nice to you? You can't judge him just because he's different. _We _aren't exactly normal in case you haven't noticed! You can make a sword out of your energy and I can move water! How are we any different than Hiei or Shuichi?"

"Shuichi?"

"Kurama." I corrected, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. That was going to take getting used to. I tried again. "Look, I appreciate that you're concerned for me. I really do. But you have to let me make my own decisions. Training with Sh-Kurama is good for getting you stronger, even if I don't like the toll it's taking on your body. Training with Hiei is making me stronger."

"It's not the same thing-"

"Yes it is. He's training me because for some ungodly reason he wants to despite getting ready for the dark tournament taking precedence. We more train at the same time anyway."

"I don't like it." He snapped back at me, pacing my room anxiously.

"I know." I conceded.

"He's a demon; you have no idea when he'll snap or do something monstrous. I'm just trying to protect you."

"How can you say that?" I stared at him, my heart sinking. "You told me yourself Kurama is a demon. You wouldn't talk about him like that, would you? Or that girl you fell for at first sight - Yukina? Is she going to go on a killing spree if she gets back to the human world? You tell me all the time how sweet she is, how caring, and how your heart breaks because you can't be near her. She's a demon, Kazuma, and I can't imagine her saying a bad thing about anyone let alone hurt them intentionally."

He looked like I'd just slapped him across the face. His words came out stuttered and broken, trying to take back what he'd said and defend himself at the same time. I shook my head and moved past him to take my shower, leaving him to his own thoughts and me to mine.


	25. Chapter 25

"Ella! I haven't seen you around in a while! Did you finish your internship?" Keiko approached me with the blue haired grim reaper Botan hot on her heels, a leery smile on her face. I was surprised to see them, but smiled back in return.

"Hello Keiko, Botan. Yeah... my internship went well. I learned a lot." I played along with the story that Kazuma must have told Yusuke's girlfriend. It was impressive for him, really, turning training at a compound into an internship. "How have you been lately? I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before I left; it all happened so suddenly."

"I understand. I've been good, mostly studying. We were just going shopping if you'd like to join us." Keiko offered with a sweet smile on her face. It warmed me up inside and made me feel almost like a girl again.

"I'd love to. What are we looking for?"

"Just something cute to wear around." She blushed, smiling in that cute little way that made her seem like just an innocent little child.

"That sounds lovely." I smiled and hooked my thumbs in my jeans pockets and walked next to them. Keiko stared at me, and stopped partway up the street. "You okay? What's wrong?"

"I've just been curious for a while... why do you walk like that?"

I stared at her, processing the question in my head a few times. I looked down at my feet, inspecting them and trying to find her reason for asking such a question.

"I guess I don't know what you mean."

"You know, backwards." She clarified. "I've never seen you walk forwards. Only ever backwards."

"Now that you mention it, the only time I've seen you walk the right way is when we were running. I don't think I've ever seen you walk forward either." Botan piped up, staring at me now too. I felt heat rush up from my toes all the way up to my ears.

"It isn't that unusual." I grumbled, nibbling on my lip. "Are we looking for dresses or not?"

"You're defensive." Keiko grinned at me. "It's cute. I was just curious, I wasn't meaning to make you upset."

"I think you're absolutely adorable!" Botan linked her arm around mine and spun me the right way forward. "Let's stop in here first Keiko."

Keiko tried on an adorable pink dress as well as a skirt and shirt combo. She decided not to get anything, but we managed to get Botan into a quirky yellow dress and they somehow convinced me into a brown knee length boho dress. I pretended to be a runway model, dancing around the room with Keiko and curtsying to Botan. It was... fun...

We wandered to three more stores before Keiko chose her dress and I picked out two sweaters on sale. Botan shook us off when we insisted she get something as well, insisting that we need to get food of some sort. We went to a small cafe where Keiko insisted on going up to order for us because the line was crazy long and she would be able to get to the front quicker than all three of us sitting there waiting. I stared at Botan, setting my bag down on the ground.

"So you're a grim reaper." I broke the silence. Her eyes widened, and she started fidgeting uncontrollably. I resisted the urge to smile at her discomfort.

"Oh you silly girl! Grim reapers aren't real! Besides, even if they were real, aren't they supposed to be big and scary and wear black clothes and carry around a scythe?" She panicked.

"Except that I trained in a compound in the mountains with a psychic who used to fight demons and have a cousin who can apparently create a sword with his spirit energy." I teased her, letting her off of the hook this time. "I know, Botan. And we're good with the school thing. I get why you couldn't tell me what was going on. I just want to fill in the holes."

She stared at me, her eyes wide and her mouth moving in a shocked kind of smile/laugh/fear state. This had to be her form of shock.

"So you're a grim reaper." I repeated. "Kazuma couldn't tell me many details, just that apparently your boss is some sort of baby?"

She didn't really respond, just looked down at her fingers like she was debating what to say next. In all fairness, it wasn't like she woke up that morning expecting a human cousin of her human coworker to start asking questions.

"His name is Koenma. His appearance may be that of a child but he is far older than any living human, so please be more respectful of him." She wrung her hands and glanced about her like something was going to pop out from the abyss and strike her down as she spoke. "His father rules the spirit world, and it falls on Koenma to rule in his father's absence."

"Why are some humans psychics and while others aren't? Does that have something to do with spirit world?"

"Psychic abilities used to be more commonplace than they are today." She shook her head. "I'm honestly not completely sure about why some humans have a higher spirit awareness than other, just that it tends to run in families. That would explain why you and both your cousins have such high spirit awareness."

"I see." I sighed, sitting back and glancing to see Keiko's progress. "So how did Kazuma get involved in all of this to begin with? From what I've scraped together, he was literally in the right place at the wrong time and his masculinity couldn't be insulted by not going into a situation that might get him killed."

"Bingo." She laughed, her bright blue hair bouncing as her head fell back.

"Did I miss something?" Keiko smiled, setting our tray down in front of us and sitting down with an eager look in her eyes.

"Just talking about my ridiculous older cousin and how he has a death wish." I waved off her question and gave her a side hug, making her tense. "Thank you for the food, Keiko. So tell me, how did you and Yusuke meet?"

She blushed, glancing up and smiling. "We met when we were kids. Our parents used to drop us off for play dates."

"Oh, so play dates turned into real dates, got it. You two are so cute." I teased.

Botan poked Keiko's flushed cheek. "They just need to admit to one another how much they love one another and everything will work out just splendid."

"So you dance." Keiko deflected, suddenly very interested in her muffin. I laughed, taking a bite of my own and nodding. "How long have you been doing that?"

"My whole life, really, but my mom signed me up for lessons when I was about eight. I joined my first team when I was ten and now I'm dancing for Meiu High School on their backup team since I came too late to be on their competitive team. Next year I am hoping to join the real team since our school system doesn't support dancing apparently."

"So you're planning on staying for quite a while then." Keiko's eyes got wide. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound so rude..."

"You're fine, Keiko. We're friends. You don't have to be so formal with me all of the time, I promise. I plan on staying until my mother tells me that I have to go back, which luckily for me will take quite a while. She's very considerate of our feelings."

I felt a familiar pang in my chest. My mother hadn't gotten ahold of me for weeks now. I wondered if she was having fun, if she was thinking about us. And my brothers... what were they up to these days? Had they spoken to mom at all? Were they okay? Were they staying out of trouble?

"So where are we planning on going after we have our fill?" I changed the topic, not wanting to ruin this time together.

Keiko and Botan shared one of those looks that was difficult to decipher because it was gone as soon as I noticed it. Botan flashed a brilliant smile and took a sip of her tea.

"We should go to the beach today. It's so beautiful today."

I smirked, nodding, and glanced outside at the sun shining down. Just a relaxing day... I can't say it hasn't been a long time coming. I could get used to this.


	26. Chapter 26

I watched Hiei from my point on one of the branches above him, watching him dart about swinging his sword and throwing punches, ducking and rolling and doing a thousand moves a second that I could keep up with for seven or eight seconds max before my eyes pretty much crossed and my focus snapped. I focused back on the paper in my lap and tapped my pencil, continuing my essay. Writing was still one of my weakest points, but I had made miles of progress thanks to Genkai and Kazuma and my skills now required only a minimum edit from my 'peers'.

It was amazing; as I worked on my paper barely fifteen feet above the demon below me, I could scarcely hear him moving, but could feel the wind on my face every time he came anywhere near me, moving through the trees like he was walking. I had never seen anything like it. He and Genkai would have a hayday training together.

There was no warning, just the most brief change in energy and direction from Hiei. I ducked out of the way at the sword that would have been at my throat and rolled off the tree branch, my feet hitting the ground and my body rolling away as he landed with a punch at the ground where I had just been. I couldn't match his speed, and I was a little irritated that I was going to have to find my now scattered things, but the adrenaline was pumping fiercely through my veins and I couldn't help the smile.

"You're supposed to be training for the tournament." I reminded him, keeping my eyes locked on his chest so I could track his movements to the best of my ability.

"I figured a rest period has been earned."

I blushed furiously, launching myself at him.

I knew better. I really did.

He smirked, barely moving out of the way while I tried to prove that I wasn't a rest period, knowing full well that I wasn't going to prove anything. It made me angry.

I dodged a punch and kicked his leg out of the way to open him up, cussing at the feel of his hands gripping mine behind my back and forcing my down.

"Never rush in." He reminded cooly in my ear, shoving my arms away from him and motioning me to continue. I rolled my shoulders and dodged him again, hissing at the whack I recieved on my calf when he forced me around and spun with a backfist, feeling the coarse black hair on his head as he ducked and lunged forward, knocking my air out and slamming me onto the ground. I brought a bubble of water around us, trapping him against me and working my hands around freezing him in his spot. I couldn't get a good hold on him, as the water around him started to boil about him regardless of how much I tried to hold it there.I pressed my palms against his torso, pushing my power against his. He lifted his hands around my wrists, pressing his own power back against me and keeping eye contact while the water started steaming around us inside my little bubble.

I was launched into that world again, gasping for breath inside an inferno. Blue flames were licking gently at my ankles, cool to the touch and peaceful in their own way. I ran my fingers tentatively over the flame and flinched away at the sudden burn of red and black overtaking the blue. The heat felt real, but I wasn't burning. It was like a dance, each flame overtaking the other briefly in their plight for dominance, then coexisting away from one another, then swirling like a twister together until they were forced away from one another and all but disappeared to their original states. Despite the heat, I could feel the damp tears in my eyes. This was chaos. Confliction. This was how I felt almost every day. Was this what he went through every waking moment?

My lungs were screaming for air. Hiei, in usual fashion, just stared at me with that odd amount of concentration and curiosity. I curled my fingers against his shirt, exhaling the air from my lungs and allowing the bubble to cascade back to the ground. I gasped in a much needed breath and turned my head to the side, coughing.

Sensation exploded around my forearms, and I turned back to find Hiei's gaze had moved to my left arm, his palms sliding down over my skin. This wasn't normal; I had never been able to come out of... whatever this was... to actually interact with someone before. His hands reached my elbows, droplets of water sliding over his jaw and onto my chest. I blushed furiously, clearing my throat at how attractive this look was on him, how nervous that made me.

He smirked, his eyes dancing in amusement and he released his grip. I hesitated, but let go of his shirt and watched him stand up. I kipped up and wrung out my hair, chewing on my lip.

"I suppose asking if you'd like any food would be pointless... but... if you're hungry..." I blushed, releasing my grip on my hair and refusing to look at him.

"I'm more than capable of obtaining my own food source." He stated calmly, turning around. He paused, his back straightening. "But I suppose if it is already prepared..."

My heart skipped a beat. Did he really just say yes?

I tripped over my own footing but ran to my backpack. Hiei was already walking toward me, so I set the backpack between us, sitting down and digging out the apples and several of the sandwiches I had packed before coming here. I wasn't even really sure why I packed so much, but I was really glad that I did. Granted, turkey and cheese wasn't exactly a feast, but he didn't seem to mind while he ate. The silence was a little awkward, but at the same time comfortable. I took a drink of water, handing him the large bottle and leaning back against the tree. His hand brushed against mine, and I smiled at the warmth in that connection. I felt like I made a step today, like I was seeing who he really was rather than the person he let the world see.

Maybe he was starting to see me too.

Of course, the moment couldn't last forever.

I felt the ripple of energy far before I saw him, glancing anyway out of habit to see my cousin trekking through the woods, glancing around and holding something in his hand. I glanced at Hiei, nervous all of a sudden about these two being in the same vicinity as one another. From the way training had been going with Shuichi, he really couldn't take a beating from Hiei on top of it all.

Hiei just closed his eyes, as if blocking my cousin out from his reality. I sighed, standing up and motioning to get his attention while I met him halfway.

"What's up? You look like normal people would when they see a ghost." I teased my all to serious cousin. Kazuma rolled his shoulder, sighing.

"You look like a drowned rat, don't see me pointing it out." He shot back. I rolled my eyes, giving him a playful shove.

"Except that you just did. What's up? We usually meet up at home."

"You got a letter." He offered it to me, glancing behind me to glare at Hiei. I frowned, taking the paper from his hands and immediately feeling my face light up. I would recognize that crotchety old psychic's handwriting anywhere.

"Your face will get stuck like that if you keep glaring like a child. I don't think Yukina would be very impressed with someone who looked so petulant all the time." I teased him again, poking his side and wandering back to my backpack.

"I'm not petulant." He yelled at me. I smiled, shaking my head, and shoving the letter in my backpack. Hiei glanced up at me, quirking a brow.

"I'm sorry to have to leave so early. I'll see you tomorrow?" I offered, leaving the water bottle and the sandwiches out for him to eat at his convenience.

"Hn." He responded, glancing at Kazuma again with a sneer. Boys. Why was it so hard for their species to get along?

I bid him farewell and jogged back to Kazuma, pressing for new details about what he had learned so far with Shuichi. It wasn't a surprise that he was quiet about his training as usual. It was frustrating, but I could see him mind working in overtime and the tiredness working it's way into his eyes. A bit of food and he would be just fine, I thought with a smile.


	27. Chapter 27

I raised my hands up, and watched the water come up in a small whip about me. I positioned it, breathing out and beginning the form I had seen some anime character doing in one of Kazuma's shows. I had been obsessed with freezing water since I had done it days ago with Hiei, and watching some fictional cartoon controlling the element of water like it was nothing more than breathing got the fire under my ass to start really focusing on increasing my abilities. Hiei had been helpful beyond words with reactionary skill and trying to learn to defend myself, and Genkai's lessons of acceptance and patience were a keen combination for allowing me to advance more quickly than I could dream of.

The water whip did exactly as I wanted it to, malleable in my hands and maneuvering with every thought in my head. It was a beautiful and intimate moment for me.

Was I an expert? Far from. Was this the coolest thing I had ever accomplished in my entire existence? Hell yes.

I twisted and flipped and danced with my power, grinning like an idiot at how perfect this was to me, how foolish I was to ever want this suppressed, and how much I had grown without realizing it. Almost two months and I could do what only existed in fairytales. Was this how Genkai felt all of the time? Or Kazuma? Would it just become an accepted part of existence eventually, like breathing and the beat of my heart in my chest? Gods I hoped not. This was too wonderful a feeling to ever be taken for granted.

A noise to my left startled me, and I whipped myself upside the head with the stream, causing myself to lurch forward. No one was there, just the water trickling on it's way and a few stray animals wandering about minding their own business. Well, that would have been embarrassing if Genkai or Yusuke had been wandering down...

"You have an amazing power." I suppressed a yell at the voice behind me, whipping around again and nearly slipping on the leaves scattered about by my shoes. A barrier automatically came up between the stranger and myself. "Though your focus needs more attention."

"Who are you?" I took a step back, taking in his appearance through the barrier between us. He must've been at least seven feet tall, with jeans and a long green trenchcoat over a green shirt of a different shade. He was wearing sunglasses, his hair cut in a militaristic style, and his features were overall sharp. His presence alone made me unexplainably nervous.

"Your power presents itself most fully when you aren't trying, specifically when you are in a situation that your body and mind recognize as dangerous. Your power is new to you." I grit my teeth, not knowing what to say and fighting the urge to bolt. He kept his hands in his pockets, completely at ease with this entire situation. "Don't fight your mind when you train. Concentrate and focus your mind on your one task, and soon your power will be natural to you."

He took one of his hands out of his pockets and positioned it in front of his body like he was ready to flick a pebble at me. I had a flashback of my training with Genkai, and rolled out of the way just as he flicked his fingers at me. There was a the sound of bark breaking, a dull crashing, and I rolled again, dodging blows that he flicked out at me. My heart jumped up the speed, adrenaline slowing things down just a little. I could see the energy flicks, but they were too fast to keep an eye on the whole way through, and I couldn't do anything but run and dodge as fast as I could. What the hell was up with this guy?

My foot hit the root of a tree as I rolled again and I sprawled face first on the ground, yelling and bringing my hands up to try and block what I knew was coming without seeing anything but dirt. I heard the impact on the water, and shook my head to clear a little of my vision. One more flick. Two more flicks. I could feel a pulsing in my hands with every energy pebble he shot at me, and I shoved my hands out at him, following my gut, and watched the energy pebbles fly back to the source. Forcing myself to stand on clumsy feet, I brought my hands up again in defense and watched him turn his face back to me, a large cut across his face healing before my eyes. I stared, amazement mixing into the cauldron of messed up emotion in my body, and guarded up again as a smirk made it's way to his lips.

"I am pleased with the progress that we have made. Reflect on this exercise, and we will speak again when you have grown stronger." He turned around and walked through the treeline, effectively ending the discussion.

I stared at his retreating back, jolting into reality again and jogging after him.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

He turned, and by the time I caught up to where he should have been, he was gone. Was he a psychic? No, he felt more like how Kurama and Hiei felt. So a demon? Did I just get training from a strange demon randomly wandering around the woods near Genkai's compound?

Genkai!

Cursing under my breath, I hauled my bag over my shoulder and started jogging up the path that led toward the stairs up to her compound. I had arrived earlier than expected, but I had no idea how much time I had wasted messing around and how much more had flown by when I got passive-aggressive trained by the trenchcoat clad demon stranger.

A familiar brown jacket came into view on the steps, a larger bag slung over his shoulder. Yusuke's gait was calm, one hand in his pocket and one hand carrying his bag, his face slack with thought.

"Hey, stranger!" I called to him, smiling politely.

His eyes widened, but he met me halfway and stopped, setting his bag down and glancing back in the direction he had come from.

"Wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, shorty." He jabbed his thumb toward the compound. "The old hag continuing your training so soon?"

"I guess so, yeah. I just received her letter to come up today and did as I was told." I shrugged. "I already wished the rest luck. You're going to do amazing at the tournament."

"I'll take that positivity." He grinned. "I'll see you when we get back. Good luck with your training."

"Your sarcasm is noted. I will though. Be safe." I laughed back at him, holding my hand out. He hesitated, but took it and shook once with a nod and a smile before he waved and we continued on our separate ways. I bit my lip, trying not to let that knot in my stomach get any tighter, and focused instead on figuring out what Genkai had in store for me.

She was inside, sipping tea, and the scene was overbearingly familiar.

"Your cup is going to get cold if you don't get moving." She grunted without looking at me. The corner of my mouth quirked, and I took my place next to her, sipping at the tea she had prepared for me. "You're probably wondering why you're here."

"I'm assuming it isn't to continue my training." I admitted to her, watching the steam still rising from the kettle. "Is it about the tournament?"

"It is." She nodded, setting her cup down and handing me another envelope. "I want to ask you to look after the compound while I'm gone."

"You're going?" I frowned, taking the envelope and opening it to find two tickets inside. "I'm confused."

"I was invited to come along and fight with the team. Not the same kind of invitation they received, just a request. They don't know that I'm coming, and I do plan to keep it that way." She stood up, hands clasped behind her back, and stared out the open screen door to the gentle breeze outside. "As for the contents of that envelope... well... you'll know what to do when the time comes."

"I hate when you're mysterious about your intentions." I sighed. "It usually means something really bad is going to happen."

She chuckled, shaking her head, and I felt that knot betraying me and winding ever so carefully tighter in my stomach, twisting the tea that now occupied the space. What wasn't she telling me?

"Don't overthink things, Ella. I can hear the gears turning from here. Everything will work itself out the way they are intended, and I need you to remember that there is nothing that we can do about it."

"We control what happens to us." I argued, standing up to walk next to her.

"Sometimes." She agreed. "And sometimes we have no control whatsoever. Whatever happens, whatever the outcome, just remember that."

I didn't like this one bit.

"Please be careful." I tried to say it with conviction, but the tremor betrayed me. She smiled, and raised her gaze upward to the sky.

"Before I leave, I want to see what you've been working on these past two months. I trust from your energy level that you haven't been sedentary."

"I've been training with Hiei and Kazuma." I admitted. "It's getting easier not to get overwhelmed when I touch people, but things still fade out when I touch someone with strong energy."

"It's an amazing gift." She glanced at me again. "I am eager to see how it progresses as you grow."

"It's pretty useless." I argued, sighing. "I hoped it would be something useful when I came to you that first day looking for advice, but there's nothing really useful about seeing a grouping of colors and emotions gathering together whenever I have skin contact with someone."

"You are able to see inside a person's soul, as I told you your last day here. How is the ability to see someone bared before you, truly see into who that person is without any of the crap layered over it, useless?"

I blushed at her praise, sticking my hands into the pocket of my hoodie. "So where am I doing my runthrough of what I've been doing?"

She smirked at my discomfort and nodded to the yard. "Just here will be fine."

I hopped down onto the yard, loving the general atmosphere around me, the crackle of power against my skin. I grinned at Genkai, lifting my hands and taking a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

Don't overthink. Don't overthink.


	28. Chapter 28

One thousand three hundred forty-nine... one thousand three hundred fifty... one thousand three hundred fifty-one...

I sighed, rubbing my eyes and pushing away the pile of rice I had been counting. The anxious feeling was building the longer time went on. It had only been three days since they had left in the first place and everything felt, to put it simply, off. I wanted to be able to relax, or do my training without getting distracted, but everything rolled straight around to that one simple fact: I was terrified for Team Urameshi.

Deciding to attempt to do some homework, I grabbed my books, grumbling, and climbed up one of the branches of the many trees surrounding the compound. I had a good view of the building, the sun was clear over my head (yet well shaded between the leaves), and it was a nice change of scenery from being in that stuffy building all day.

"BQ, BR, and BS are tangents... one circle has a radius of four, one has a radius of 2... How are they related?" I tapped the pencil against my chin. "It can't be "A" because BS isn't greater than BR... not "B" either..."

"Excuse me?"

Did I mention that my life was becoming a stereotypical anime of sorts?

I jerked up, smacked my head on the tree trunk behind me, and found myself lying in a heap in front of the owner of the voice. I glanced up to see a beautiful turquoise haired girl with startling red eyes and a traditional blue kimono staring at me with worry surrounding her .

"Are you alright?" She wondered, concern in her eyes.

"Apart from a wounded pride? Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you." I blushed, pushing myself up and clearing my throat. "So... uhm... can I ask why you're here?"

"Oh! Yes. I'm sorry. I was looking for Master Genkai." She bowed politely and smiled a small smile at me. "Kazuma mentioned this place quite fondly, and I needed to ask her a question."

"Kazuma?" I rose an eyebrow. "Kazuma... Kuwabara?"

"You know Kazuma?" She cocked her head at me, a timid smile on her face.

"He's my cousin. You must be Yukina." I grinned, bouncing. "He talks about you all the time."

She blushed, breaking out into a grin. She was gorgeous, exactly as my love-crazed younger cousin described her to be. I chuckled, waving my hand to gesture that she should follow me. She trailed behind me, perfectly polite and everything that I imagine a traditional Japanese girl from feudal times would be, which was both a little unnerving to see in real life and really, really fascinating.

"So, Yukina, what brings you here?"

"I had a feeling that I needed to come to this place before I ventured to the Dark Tournament." She admitted with a sheepish smile.

"That's funny..." I glanced to the envelope Genkai had left for me, pieces one and two clicking into place. "What gave you the feeling?"

"I can't explain it, really. I just felt like I needed to come here at once. Like someone was compelling me to find Master Genkai and speak with her." She looked down. "I must have been wrong if she isn't here."

"No... no I think you're right where you're supposed to be,Yukina." I sighed, glancing up and cursing Genkai's impossible vagueness and inability to just tell me what was going on. "You said you need to go to the Dark Tournament?"

"I did." She nodded. "It is nearly impossible to get there through demon world right now and through the human world I am unsure of where I am going."

"I think I might. I happen to have two boat tickets. Do you know where the Dark Tournament is held?"

"Hanging Neck Island?" She frowned, concern in her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Genkai happened to leave two boat tickets to Hanging Neck Island when she... stepped out." I grabbed the envelope and handed it to her. "If you wouldn't mind a companion that is."

Her eyes widened, and she broke out into another grin. "I would love if you joined me! The company would be most welcome."

Her smile was contagious.

"I'll be right back."

The trip out to the boat was thankfully smooth, and filled with pleasant conversation. Apparently where Yukina came from was indeed in demon world, but in the realm of the ice maidens, a frosty bunch of women who reproduced asexually, always giving birth to girls. She had, in essence, run away from that world, too kindhearted and gentle to live amongst such cruelty. I told her in return stories about Kazuma from our childhood up to the point that I left. Kazuma had always been a fighter, much to no one's surprise, and she was enthralled with the tales about how he used to scrap with the kids that would pick on me for my looks, and how he would turn around and pick flowers with me in the same hour.

The boat trip itself was... interesting. There were demons of all sorts crowded together, and Yukina and I barely managed to slide in with our pre-purchased tickets. Apparently humans tended to be discouraged from riding. We sat against the rails, watching demons move about, and she explained to me the differences in some of them that she knew of. It was fascinating how many different looks there were within the world, and this was just one small boat. We were entering through the half of the island meant for demons, since apparently humans and demons were separated as much as possible. The hotel lay on the side of the island, and housed competitors, humans, and a few high class demons that could pass as humans.

"You have an interesting power." She commented, and I jumped from rotating two balls of water above my palm like Chinese medicine balls. "It is rare to see a human have control over an element like you have over water."

"I'm still an amateur; I would hardly say I have control over anything." I blushed, letting the balls float back to the water beneath us, reabsorbing themselves into their natural state once more.

"You give yourself too little credit." She insisted, bringing up my hand in hers and launching me into a world of cool blues. I glanced around me, touching the stream nearest me and smiling at the feeling it gave me. There was an island in the center of the stream, just a small patch of green grass with colorful budding flowers. I found myself loving it dearly.

Her face met mine with the next few blinks, and she only smiled at me with those sweet, innocent eyes. I blushed, glancing down at my hands and pulling away from her.

"I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be. I'm honored."

"What?" I frowned up at her again.

She pointed at her eyes, and pointed at mine. "Your power can go both ways. You saw into my soul, yes, but you also allowed me to see into yours. It's quite incredible."

"I... I don't..." I swallowed, letting her take my hand up in hers again and shivering at the cold feeling running through my skin.

"Your power is malleable. It's unusual, but not unheard of. If you would like, I can teach you to heal. Water and ice wok in perfect combination of one another, I'm sure I could teach you."

Excitement rose up in my throat. "You're serious?!"

She giggled, a blush gracing her lovely face. "I would be happy to do so. It would be wonderful to work in tandem with another."

I grinned back, shifting to face her fully. "Can we start now? Here on the boat?"

She glanced at the demons glaring our way, and nodded with another smile. "Let's go down to the lower level and we can practice in private."

"I'll protect you." I promised her, smiling and patting her head once. "No one is going to touch you while I'm here."

She nodded, smiling. Damn, I couldn't wait until we were legally related.


	29. Chapter 29

"Damnit!"

"It's alright! I'll find another way in!"

"I'm not leaving you! Grab my hand!" I grunted in pain at the foreign elbow that lodged itself into my stomach, someone hissing in my ear. "Yukina - ow! Damnit, lay off of me you asshole. YUKINA!"

I cursed up a storm, struggling to free myself from the crowd that was pushing forward past the bouncers that were thoroughly unprepared for the rush of demons coming off of the boat that were determined to see this tournament. I had to get back out of this crowd and get to Yukina.

"I'll find tickets and meet you in." She called to me, pointing to a large demon that was charging the group I was specifically forced into. "Run!"

"Get the fuck off of me!" I threw an elbow at the demon that was making himself a damn nuisance and winced at the sound of cracking bone, not knowing or caring if it was his or mine and just bolting.

"Get her! Stop!"

I darted around the first corner I saw and pushed my little legs as fast as they would go until I could ditch the lizard creatures chasing after me at the urging of the big red demon with the obnoxious mustache at the door. I could hear their footsteps pounding a short distance behind me, so I twisted in and out of the crowd that was dwelling about and pressed my back into one of the walls. Three lizard guards trampled the direction I had been headed, hissing amongst themselves. I breathed out in relief, glancing at the television screen that had drawn attention. I swallowed hard; a red headed man with long ears was fighting Yusuke, and frankly was doing quite well from what I could tell.

"Well, well, well. Look at the little human girl. You're awfully far away from your filthy little friends, girl." I flinched, not wanting to look behind me and see the face of what I could only assume was something resembling a troll but forcing my body to do the exact opposite of its wishes. "You look like a scrap of a thing, but I'm so hungry that you'll have to do."

"No, make her scream first. Serves her right for her kind winning so unfairly." A second blue demon rumbled. I swallowed, taking a step back and trying not to scream at the tentacles that wrapped around my waist, trapping my elbows down.

"Looks like you scared her." It hissed, liquid coating my shirt. I shivered, gagging reflexively at the smell. "I call her like muscle."

"I object." I growled, digging about for my power and flexing it at the creature holding me. It let go, hissing in pain, and I grabbed my water bottle, opening it and splashing it in their faces desperately. There were surprised cries, yells of pain at the ice freezing any surface the water could touch, and I bolted the other way. Screw this.

I weaved in and out of the crowds again, finding myself clomping gracelessly up and down the endless series of hallways that seemed to lead me around in circles. Stadiums had to have entrances somewhere, right?

A clawed hand glanced my shoulder. I slammed my hand to the side, bringing a wave of water crashing down on the lucky bastard directly behind me. He swore, and I turned the corner, taking every corner possible to throw them off.

I took a breather when I couldn't hear footsteps behind me any longer, resting my hands on my knees and taking slow breaths in and out to calm my heart.

"Look at that glow in his eyes! Kuwabara's really ready for more!"

My heart stopped, and I found myself jogging to a hanging television, pushing my way in so I could see the screen better. My cousin was hunched over in pain, his complexion far more pale than usual.

"It feels delightful doesn't it?" The announcer, a quirky looking girl with dog ears got in his space and Kazuma collapsed to his knees. "You don't... like it?"

I growled, my blood boiling at the site of Kazuma in such agony just for cheap thrills.

"This is going to be a short one..." She looked nervous, and his opponent looked far too pleased for my liking.

"Yes, he's just a waste of time."

"You are!" Kazuma snarled. I felt my teeth baring in his defense and clenched my fists. He stood up quickly despite his obvious injuries and postured, shocking both his opponent and the announcer. Good for you, cous.

"I'm happy to accept your surrender. Why don't you avoid embarrassment?"

"I don't get the spotlight very often, and I ain't gonna mess this up!"

"Now boys, enough of the witty banter..."

I felt a familiar presence nearing me, and glanced about to see where those guards were. I blinked in surprise; the demons that had crowded about the television were all standing across the room from me, looking both uncomfortable and disconcerted in my direction. I guess even as a human, hell hath no fury to these demons.

"Whimps and children first." I glanced back to the screen just once more, wishing I could take just one swing at this asshole and running again just as the lizard men came into view. I had a head start, so it was easy enough to keep moving and confuse them just enough for me to try and figure out how to get into the stadium. I wasn't going to let him be in that stadium alone.

I closed my eyes, focusing on locating the energy around me. The largest conglomeration was directly in front of me, but there were still no doors and no signs that I could read. It was confusing as hell.

"You seem lost." I almost jumped out of my skin, whipping around with a disc of water in my hand only to see the man from the forest about the mountains. "I see your power has increased. This is most excellent."

"I didn't think I'd see you again so soon." I admitted, letting my disc disapparate and standing up straight. "Are you on a team or just watching the fights?"

He smirked. "Someone with my level of strength is more often than not expected to participate in events such as these. They are an excellent test of power and skill."

"You sound like you're enjoying yourself." I flinched at the accusation in my voice and counted to five. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"Your cousin is through that door there." I moved to see where he was pointing to and my adrenaline started pumping again. I pushed out my power to see if it was true, to locate their energies around me. I shivered, feeling a hundred things moving through me at the same time. Kazuma's pain, Hiei's fury... Shizuru touching Yukina's shoulder. What was Shizuru doing here? I blanched, overwhelmed at the sensation, and put my hand on the wall. This man's fiercely battling emotions within himself. It was all too much. "Yes, it can be rather overwhelming, can't it? Do as I told you at the stream; stop focusing so hard and let your body lead you. Separate yourself from the emotions around you or your mind will break."

I breathed in and out, trying to do as he said and feeling my vision slide in and out. Was this happening so intensely because my awareness has increased so much? Was I really just starting to lose it?

"You there!" one of the guards yelled from the end of the hallway, out of breath but still going. "Stop this minute!"

"You should go if you want to be there when the fight is through." He nodded to the door again and turned to face the guards.

"Thank you. You've helped me so many times; I don't know how to repay you." I made myself stand up straight, my vision clearing bit by bit as I did so.

"Continue to get stronger, and your debt is repaid."

I nodded, turning and heading to the door, closing it behind me and locking it. That should slow them down. When I wasn't reaching out and trying to find a needle in a haystack of thousands of souls trapped in one place, I wasn't getting nauseous and my headache was beginning to recede. Funny how that works.

I made my way down the flights of stairs, listening to the announcer speak and the sounds of what could only be described as an earthquake. Part of the stairs were missing halfway down, a group of people working on getting them back in production, so I slid down the rails and waved at the workers as I passed. Yep, I was that asshole today.

My feet hit the ground and I leapt over the side of the stairs and used my discs to slow my descent until I hit the ground and rolled, keeping my stride going. Coolest thing I've ever done? By far.

Light was coming through from one of the entrances, a small opening in the ground where the door would lift up and fall down upon entrance. I peeked out the bottom to see, for the most part, the bottom of an arena. I crawled underneath it, eyes widening at the scene before me. Kazuma was at the end of his rope. Shuichi was curled up against a wall. Hiei and a masked fighter were behind an electric barrier created by a woman wearing wires to cover her feminine parts and little else. As for the other team, I could see one young looking boy wearing a fascinating set of blue robes and headpiece lying to the side, coughing up blood and glaring at the match, and the douchebag in the center beating on my cousin.

I made eye contact with the mysterious demon, and stood up awkwardly, waving once and running along the side of the stadium to the people I actually recognized, avoiding bits and pieces of airborn rubble along the way.

The red haired demon dressed only in wires, who I now saw was wearing a tacky little nurses hat on her head, didn't notice me as she watched the match, and I knelt down near where the masked fighter was. She turned to look at me, her one visible eye widening in surprise, and I stared at her in response. Her outfit alone was a dead giveaway, but that color...

'Genkai?' I mouthed, and she blinked, shaking her head subtly and motioning to the match. I nodded, my spirits lifted and crushed bit by bit as I looked up again to see my cousin being smashed to bits. I was growing a fond dislike bordering on hatred for this announcer who so obviously enjoyed his pain.

Shuichi made eye contact with me, and he froze in surprise as well. I crept behind the tent, making myself as inconspicuous as possible, and jogged over to him.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"What are you doing here?" He asked at the same time.

"Well, I heard there was a party and you know me; I just have to stick my nose where it was so rudely uninvited." I snarked half-heartedly, looking to the match again. "He's not doing okay. What happened?"

"He was badly injured by the previous team we fought. The committee here is determined that we lose, so they stacked the fights so we would have to fight two teams back to back if we won. Your cousin, while admirable, is bullheaded when it comes to his moral code."

"No arguments there. Are you alright?"

"I'll live." He brushed off. I gave him a look but flinched again at the crash behind me. I didn't want to look. "You don't have to put yourself through this."

"He's my cousin; I love him." I breathed out.

"That second meteor attack was stronger than the first. Kuwabara's whole body is doing the wiggle dance, and yet he STILL tries to get up!"

"Why?" The man clad in some sort of rock armor demanded. "Why don't you quit?!"

My cousin started to chuckle, breaking my heart. "You dummy. Guess you haven't checked the score for this round lately. We've got four wins and you've got two where the first team to five advances. Urameshi and Kurama gave it all for us and now I still have a way to bring it home for 'em!"

"Ella-"

"No. He can't do this." I insisted.

"-moron. That's the whole point of this fight. As long as I take you with me!"

"What?" the rock man twitched.

"If this fight ends in a draw my team wins and the rest of my guys get to live." He turned around after a moment, smiling at Yusuke. I followed it all, confused and terrified. "Just take care of the rest of this, okay?"

"No!" I gasped, feeling my heart shattering in my ribcage. "Kazuma, no!"

"Don't you do this!" Yusuke screamed at him.

"Let's not get too upset, Urameshi. I want to keep my finish nice and manly."

I couldn't even hear the rest. It was like everything was fazing out. I could see Yukina running down the stairs in the stadium out of the corner of my eye, but my brain wasn't processing this information. I was so afraid for what was happening.

Kazuma rushed at him, a mad glint in his eye. I shook, gripping onto Kurama's hand without thinking and holding on hard to ground myself. This wasn't happening. Just look at her. Please, dear god, just look the sole reason for your existence before you do this!

He collided with the massive ball of energy that was his opponent, gripping onto it and holding on with all of his might. I wasn't prepared in this intense moment for his abrupt joy.

"Kazuma!"

His eyes went straight to the girl in the crowd, and he found the strength to stop his opponent dead, and backfisted him across the face, screaming "SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!"

He ran to the wall, making awkward poses at her and trying to make conversation. I stared, looking back at Shuichi who just gave me a sheepish smile that agreed with my confusion, and I shook my head, exhaustion taking over my worry. I sat next to him, watching the rest of the fight that, no surprise, completely turned the tables. Kazuma slammed his spirit sword into the guy's' abdomen, sending him flying into the stands. I rolled my eyes at his bragging and his damn near miss at the ten count, closing my eyes at the cheers and letting myself catch just a moment of calm before he succeeded in killing me.

Hiei and the masked fighter made their way over to us, Hiei's eyes widening at the sight of me sitting there with Shuichi. I blushed, releasing Shuichi's hand from my death grip and clearing my throat. Kurama chuckled, wincing immediately and holding his side.

"Here, let me help." I pushed myself up and moved in front of him, rubbing my palms together. "This is my first time doing this for real, so I may not do the best job."

"While I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about, I trust that you at least won't do anymore damage." He teased me lightheartedly.

I grinned, glancing over at the masked fighter, who had moved closer to me to inspect what I was doing with interest. Hiei was still standing in that same spot, only his eyes were focused on the stands. I glanced over, feeling my heart sink at Yukina standing talking to Kazuma, a smile on her face. I glanced back to Hiei, noting his concentration and how his eyes never wavered from her. I wanted to cry and scream and crawl in a hole all at the same time.

"Ella? Are you alright?" Shuichi brought my concentration back to him.

"Oh, yeah... sorry..." I cleared my throat, knawing at my lip and focusing on him. I brought my hands up to him, letting my water come up with me, and did as I had practiced with Yukina, letting my hands move with my energy, the water brushing his skin. I watched his wounds stitch back together, the discolored skin molding itself back to a normal color. I felt pressure building inside my head, black dancing at my peripheral, and I dropped the water, falling flat on my ass again and holding my head before it shattered. "That was a lot easier to do when it wasn't on a living person."

"How did you learn this?" Shuichi moved in front of me, touching my hands on my head. I shivered at the purples and pinks swirling in my vision, but it was more familiar to me, easier to maneuver through and see normally at least.

"Yukina taught me." I breathed, digging my fingertips into my scalp. "Just give me a minute."

When I could stand, I leaned against the wall, jumping at Hiei's eyes on me now. He immediately turned from me when I noticed him, but not before I saw the look he was giving Shuichi and I. I frowned, watching him walk away and back towards the group and wiping the blood from my nose. What was going on?


	30. Chapter 30

I felt my stomach clench for the dozenth time, watching Hiei staring at Yukina while she and Botan chased one another around the couches in the room. I don't know why it bothered me so much; it wasn't like we were together, and it wasn't like I could blame him for his obvious interest in the ice maiden, but it felt like he was driving his sword into me every time I saw it.

The girls had shown up to play some games with everyone, and this was their version of a break I assumed. Hiei was sitting by the window, refusing to join in on the festivities, and I was laying down reading on some pillows in the corner of the room so I wouldn't be in anyone's way. Even Tolkien couldn't seem to distract me today.

"Where are you headed to?" Shizuru wondered, standing as well.

"Outside. Need to think." I muttered, donning my hoodie.

"I'll join you. I'll pick up some more snacks." She held the door open for me. I sighed, but I knew better than to argue with her when she made up her mind. I walked out, waiting for her. When we were headed down the first flight of stairs, she blocked my way. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just need some time to think, like I said." I insisted, trying to push past her arm. She didn't budge, only lifted her brow. "Shizuru, you already reamed me for not telling you about all of this sooner. I already explained why I couldn't. Please just let me have time to myself,"

"This isn't about that; something else is going on with you." She insisted.

"Just let me through."

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Why are you getting in my business all of a sudden?!"

"Because you're not acting like yourself. I want you to talk to me; tell me what's going on in your head, scream at me, throw a tantrum for crying out loud. Just don't keep shutting everyone out!"

"I'm not shutting anyone out! I just want some damn air!"

She glowered at me for a minute, our stubborn streaks crackling the air, before she sighed and let her arm down.

"Fine. But you do know that you can talk to me, right? About anything."

"I know." I conceded, some of the air deflating from my temper. "And I will. I just need to figure out how I feel right now. Then we can talk."

She nodded, watching me as I skipped steps down the stairs to get outside. The sun overhead was just starting to go down, casting the island into a world of gorgeous reflections of reds and pinks from the water, the occasional green shining onto the hotel. I put my hands in my pockets and started walking backwards, away from the hotel and towards the woods, cabin fever working its way in.

Kazuma had an interest in Yukina. Yukina clearly liked him back. Yusuke is head over heels for Keiko, and Keiko is so in love with him that it may as well have been written in the stars that they would be together. But Hiei liking Yukina? She's so delicate and sweet and fragile, all things he seems to detest. Is it because she's a demon? Or because she's beautiful? Or maybe those very qualities are exactly what he was looking for.

I don't even understand why the hell this is bothering me so much!

Because you're a jealous child?

I sighed, staring up at the trees above me and baring my teeth menacingly at the branches. Unsurprisingly, they seemed unfazed by my anger.

I mean, what am I even jealous about? It's not like we were even together. It's not like we've been on a date or he's expressed interest in me. The most comfortable we've gotten is eating some thrown together sandwiches sitting next to one another. It's not like I have much of a say over who he makes goo goo eyes at. But you'd think he'd be disinterested as soon as he found out she was taken at least... Maybe it's just because I really thought he was starting to like me, the way that I like him...

I pivoted abruptly, making my way to where I could feel the water pushing and pulling against the shore. I needed something to vent my anger through, and dancing didn't seem like the safest option on an island full of demons who happened to hate humans, and many of whom considered humans a nice meal to compliment their days. Screw that noise.

I climbed down the side of the rocks above the water, careful of my steps. One of the footholes wasn't as stable as I thought, and I found myself skidding down, crying out and sliding straight to the bottom. Blood came away with my hands, my jeans ripped open across the side of my knee up to about mid-thigh, my black spandex showing at the ends. I sighed, glancing at the edge of the water. Do I dare? My last attempt at healing didn't exactly go that well...

I brought my hands up and led a stream of water over to myself, concentrating, and focused once again on my newfound technique. It didn't feel quite as... strenuous... as it did when I healed Shuichi. Maybe because it was my own body instead of someone else's it's easier?

Sighing, I looked up at the sky to give myself a moment's recovery. This island was the center of a disgusting tradition between humans and demons of exploiting and killing one another; why did it have to be so beautiful when it held such evil?

Practicing was exactly what I needed as it turned out. I flowed through forms, danced with the water, practiced my stances, and worked on my shielding. I was still ecstatic over my discovery that I could absorb and reflect small bits of energy, but I hadn't anyone to practice with since the man with the sunglasses.

Wind rustled through my hair, and a laugh reached my ears from somewhere above me. I stopped, blinking to assess that fact. Someone laughed... from up in the sky.

Releasing the water, I looked up, searching the darkening hues of the sky for the source of that noise. Nothing seemed amiss, nothing out of place. I glanced to the left and right, suspicion boiling in my stomach. Behind me revealed exactly what everything else had; nothing. Was I seriously just going crazy?

I turned back to face the water once again and let out a shriek at the man in front of me, floating on air. I brought a wave up as quickly as I could, whipping about to try and follow him when he just whisped to the side of me and laughed again. He looked familiar, and I racked my brain while I backed away from him to try and figure out from where.

"Thought I felt somethin familiar! Know someone that has very similar power to yeh lass, and thought ta meself now who would be able ta do somethin like that."

"You're Jin." I blinked, recognizing the voice from the television screens and the speakers when I had been running through the stadium. "The Shinobi that fought Yusuke."

"Ah, now there was a good fight!" He grinned, his ears flapping at the memory. "Underestimated that one, I did. Tink maybe next time I'll have even more fun."

"I'm sorry, but what are you doing here?"

"Told ya lass, wanted ta see yer power." He smiled again, softer this time, and touched his feet to the ground. "Only met one other person who had a power like that, and it weren't gonna be him I found."

I stared at him, assessing the single horn surrounded by a mass of red hair and the depth of his blue eyes. A sliver of a fang was sticking out of the corner of his mouth, accenting his face in a way that made him seem almost childish despite the well defined, bulging muscle exactly at my eye level. He didn't seem to mean any harm, but what would he want with me? It was never something so simple and straightforward.

"Why are you being nice?" I blurted, unable to help myself. "I mean, not that I'm complaining because I would much rather have a pleasant experience over a negative one, but didn't Yusuke beat you? So why are you being nice to me? Shouldn't you be, you know, mad or something?"

He just grinned, stretching his arms above his head. "Like I said, lass, twas a good fight. Don mean I got ta take my loss out on Yusuke's friends."

"I never said we were friends." I pointed out.

"Ya never said yeh weren't."

"I like you." I grinned decisively. I held my hand out to him. "Ella Kuwabara. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, any relation to the biggie on the team?"

"My cousin." I nodded. "I'm proud of his first win."

He laughed, shaking my hand. Pale blues, greys bordering on whites, and a breeze that was both cool and warm at the same time were what I felt. I glanced around to see clouds, clear and moving gently across the breeze. It was calm, with a warning of the storm just underneath.

I looked up at him again, blinking out the images branded in my brain. He blinked at me, oddly stoic, and then broke out in a grin again, his ears wiggling once more.

"Full of surprises!" He commented, laughing. "Never met a psychic with that ability. Saw my soul, eh? Yers is mighty pleasant yerself."

"I'm sorry. I still don't have full control of that."

"'S alright lass. Takes time. I could help ya with yer forms if yeh like." He offered, pointing at the water. "Might help with controlling yer other abilities."

I regarded him, smiling at the idea of getting help from the Irish demon. "I'd like that."

He nodded, pulling his legs up pretzel style and floating on the air again, a gentle breeze flowing around us. "Show me what yeh got."


	31. Chapter 31

**I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has read this story. For reading, for the favorites and the follows, the reviews, the private messages... everything. You all are so wonderful! Please feel free to message or review anytime in the future! Here is the next installment; I hope you enjoy it. :)**

"We're lost." I stared up at the sky, walking beside Shizuru. She tilted her body to the left, so I moved with her and watched the tree we passed for the eighth time. "We're literally taking the same four paths repeatedly."

"I could've sworn that it was this way." Botan fretted. I sighed, watching her look to and fro, and glanced to Yukina, who crept near me.

"Hey." I nudged her gently. "How are you liking our hike?"

"I would enjoy it more if there was an end in sight." She confessed, wringing her hands. "I am worried for Kazuma."

"I know how you feel." I crossed my arms and leaned my hip against one of the rock formations nearby, watching Botan pace a few times before decidedly pointing her finger in the same direction we had already gone. "Well, at least we're getting some good exercise. It's been torture being cooped up in that hotel room because of the rain."

"You were out for three hours yesterday." Shizuru pointed out. "And the day before."

"Yeah, but I got caught in the rain and couldn't leave for the rest of the night. I wanted to stay outdoors."

"You always did get cabin fever pretty easily."

I stuck my tongue out at her, grinning and starting to walk again, following her movements. I went to twiddle with the chain on my wrist, only to find bare skin meeting me. I stopped, staring at my arm, my heart pounding. Where was it?

"Guys, I have to head back to the hotel." I panicked, starting to retrace where we had been walking and searching the ground frantically for any sign of my bracelet.

"What? Why?" Shizuru put her hand on my shoulder. "Ella-"

"I can't find my bracelet. It must have snapped and fallen off when I was spacing out, or it fell off in the room... I'll meet you at the stadium." I promised, moving away from her and continuing my search. Where was it?

"Would you like some assistance looking for your bracelet?" Yukina wondered, concern lacing her voice.

"Yeah, we could search the area while you run back to the hotel and see if we find it?" Keiko offered, stepping toward me timidly.

"No, it's fine. Please, go to the tournament. The guys need their cheering squad. I'll be fine, I just need to find it." I insisted, waving them off with as much of a smile as I could muster. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll be okay. I'll see you there."

I turned around again, speed walking with my eyes focused on the grass. It was awkward walking this way, but this was how I was facing when it would have fallen, so this was my best bet to see it.

"Her dad gave that bracelet to her when she went to live with her mom. She only takes it off for recitals and when she showers..." I listened to Shizuru fade into the distance and tried to block it out. I didn't want to think about dad right now. I couldn't.

There was no sign of silver in the undergrowth, and I kept my eyes glued to the ground straight up to the hotel. I skipped steps up to the hotel room, glancing about the hall to make sure I was clear before I focused on my water. I closed my eyes, focusing hard, and forced it between the door and the frame, pushing the lock back and opening my eyes to the door swinging open. I glanced around the room, checking my little corner, the book I was reading, my pillowcase, everywhere it could have possibly become unclasped in the last few hours. It wasn't there. It wasn't in the bathroom, it wasn't in the kitchenette area, and it wasn't on the table where we had all been playing cards and gorging on junk food.

My heart was skipping beats and dots were crowding my vision. God damnit where is it?

"Looking for this?" A silky, dark voice wondered.

I whipped around, suppressing any sound at the presence of the tall man leaning in the doorway. My eyes narrowed in on the chain on the end of his index finger, looking small and frail in comparison to him. He narrowed his eyes at me, and though I couldn't see most of his face because of the mask he was wearing, I could tell he wasn't impressed with what he saw.

"What are you doing in here?" I held my ground despite my desire to step backwards and create more space between him and I. I recognized him as Karasu, one of the members of Team Toguro, and one of the most intimidating people I had ever seen up close.

"Why do we do anything in this world?" He shot back, a lazy quality in his voice. "We do things because we are compelled by our emotions. Boredom, love, hatred... Emotions are what govern our entire lives, all of our beings. Our essence."

I frowned, glancing him up and down to try and figure out what he was on about. He glanced to towards the room that belonged initially to Hiei and Shuichi and I followed his gaze, taking him out of my eyesight for less than a second on impulse.

"Or in this case..." His voice came from behind me, and I squeaked, bouncing straight up and whipping around to face him, backing away as quickly as I could. "The emotion governing my actions is closer described as 'disappointment'."

"That's a harsh statement coming from a man who won't even show his face." I snarled, feeling like a cornered animal.

"I had high expectations for you, I must confess. He spends so much time around you, drops his guard when you are near. I had hoped that you would be half as interesting, but it would seem that you are nothing more than an aimless, average little distraction for him in this place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your relationship with Kurama of course." His eyes narrowed again behind his mask, but I couldn't tell if he was smirking or glaring at me. It was hard to read him, with his mask and his consistently relaxed posture, as though nothing could possibly affect him. "You are incredibly boring, a dime a dozen little girl with a cute enough face to get by and not enough power in her entire being to ever be worth spitting at. What does he see in you?"

"Give me my bracelet and get out of our room." I snapped, my fist quivering. He laughed, his long black locks shaking and swaying around him.

"Do you want to hit me? You can try, if you'd like. I decided not to kill you because it's simply too early, but if you want to die I can hardly stop you."

My heart palpitated again, a hard lurch in my stomach causing bile to rise up my throat. I pushed it down, keeping eye contact with him in my fury and trying not to show how truly frightening that idea was.

"Nothing to say at that? Maybe you have more brains than your bullheaded cousin after all. You certainly received all of the looks." I blushed, narrowing my eyes at him again and clenching my teeth. "A word to the wise; say your goodbyes while you can. Before the end of this tournament, you are going to lose everything you hold dear."

"You don't know anything." I declared, lifting my chin and swearing at myself for letting my mouth open. "Our team is going to win, and we will all walk out of here alive. You're going to rot in the deepest pits of hell, and no one will ever remember your name."

I could feel the smirk this time, as if I could see his mouth beyond that insufferable mask. "That mouth is going to get you into trouble one day."

"Your love of your own voice is going to get YOU into trouble."

He moved past me, strolling toward the door at normal pace, like every movement was a mockery to me, and didn't bother glancing back. At the door he casually flicked my bracelet over his shoulder, the chain hitting the carpet with a small thud. I ran to the door, looking out of it to find him gone. I wasn't surprised, but I could feel the fury rising in my chest once more. I stooped to pick up my bracelet, growling at the broken link in the chain that caused it to fall off my wrist.

I glanced at the clock, sticking my bracelet into my pocket and dashing out of the room to try and get to the tournament stadium at a decent time. I didn't even want to think about the vampire wannabe or his ominous statements; I just wanted to see my team kick butt and move on to the next round.

Every fight won was one fight closer to going home.


	32. Chapter 32

"The finals are two days away. What if he gets his sleep schedule all screwy?" Kazuma rubbed the back of his head, observing Yusuke who lay unconscious on one of the beds. "He should take a shower or have a walk or something..."

"Don't bother him." Genkai ordered softly from her place on against the wall. We both turned around to look at her, me fiddling with getting the final piece fitted back onto my bracelet and him holding little Puu in his arm. "He'll wake up in time even if he doesn't want to. There's something new inside him now and it won't let him miss that fight."

I frowned, putting down the pliers and watching her face. She seemed far-away somehow, like she wasn't really in this room with either of us.

"I guess I'd better be off." She pushed herself up and walked to the door.

"Wait a second, where are you going now?" Kazuma turned with her.

She stood silently, staring at the knob in front of her, her eyes still misted with that dreamy look. I pushed myself up from the ground as well, moving to stand next to my cousin and looking her up and down. Nothing in her posture betrayed anything of what was going on in her head, but I felt worry running through me. She wasn't acting like herself.

"Tell Yusuke not to follow me." She said finally.

"Are you in trouble?"

She hesitated with her hand around the doorknob, furrowing her brown. She turned around after a moment and stared at him.

"Kuwabara?"

"Ma'am?"

"You have a gentle heart. Use it." She smiled. She looked at me, nodding once. "You've come a long way, Ella. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you." I said quietly, looking her up and down.

She walked out of the room without looking back at us, and chewed on my lip.

"What the heck? Hope this isn't a sign people are gonna start acting weird on me."

I shoved my bracelet into my pocket and pushed my pliers into his hand.

"I'm gonna try and catch up with her. Watch Yusuke." I told him, petting Puu's head and ducking out of the room. She wasn't in the main part of the room, so I grabbed my sweatshirt and pulled it over my tanktop, walking out in the hallway. She wasn't there either. If I were Genkai, I would probably take the stairs...

I skipped steps until I found her on the second landing, descending at a leisurely pace that didn't betray what her face did.

"Genkai." She turned to look at me, that stern look on her face that told me I should have stayed where I was and not followed her. "What's wrong? You aren't acting like yourself."

She turned around, starting her descent again, and I followed her.

"You have always been stubborn." She finally stated. "I knew that when I took you on. Stubborn but polite, determined but passive. Happy yet suffering. You rise and fall much like the tide. Despite what anyone will tell you, Ella, your emotions are not a weakness. I want you always to remember that."

"Why does it feel like you're saying goodbye?"

"You ask so many questions." She smiled, shaking her head. "Can an old woman not take a walk without playing twenty questions with her student?"

"You're avoiding my question."

"And you're going to need another piece of metal if you want to wear your bracelet anytime soon. It was a gift from your father, was it not?"

"He gave it to me when I went to live with my mother when I was eight. Genkai..." I hesitated, not wanting to keep pushing if she wasn't going to budge. "You know that you can tell me anything, right? That if you need help, I'll be there?"

"I know." She touched my face, smiling softly at me. Pale blues and off whites danced within my vision, but I wasn't submerging into her. It must be easier when I've already felt a person. "Go outside and practice. It's a beautiful day out."

I nodded, flickering my eyes between hers to try and get something else. I couldn't stop her from doing what she wanted, and she wanted it dropped. But something was wrong. This wasn't right, whatever it was.

She exited the stairwell into the main lobby of the hotel room, and I separated from her reluctantly to head out the back. Something told me that I wasn't going to be able to follow her.

The sound of screaming shocked me out of my thoughts, and I broke out toward the sound. Flames of orange and black circled above the water past the trees, tendrils whipping through the air. I pushed myself as fast as I could go, feeling like I was flying. I panicked at the tendrils pulling down, turning into a cyclone that seemed to be visibly shrinking.

"What are you doing here?" Hiei snapped at me, barely turning his head to acknowledge me from over his shoulder.

I panted, catching my breath, and staring at the fire on the ground. "I heard someone screaming..."

"And you thought you could accomplish what by running to their aid? Sharing the same fate?"

"How about helping?" I glared, feeling that irritation acting up again. He'd been so distant and, to be quite frank, pissy the last day or so. Like his power wasn't good enough at this current point.

He scoffed, standing up and turning around. "How interesting."

"At least I'm willing to try!" I snapped at him, resting my hands on my hips and feeling my blood start to boil again. "And what the hell did you do to your arm?"

"It wasn't doing as it was commanded, so it had to be punished." He said simply, shrugging and turning to go back to what he was doing. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Why are you being so moody lately?"

"Not everyone has the positive outlook that your new shinobi friend shares." He dismissed me, drawing out a flame in his hand and breathing to focus.

"Jin? What about him?" Hiei didn't respond, seeming to ignore me, which only served to make me more angry. "Hiei, what about Jin? Are you jealous that he's helping me or something?"

"I don't get 'jealous'." He scoffed again, stopping his ministrations to turn back around and glare at me. "Jealousy is for the weak, the attached. I am neither."

"So you don't care at all if I'm here or not then?"

"You can do as you please. I'm busy." He turned around, effectively shutting me out again.

I tried not to let that affect me, but I felt that agonizingly familiar pang of jealousy that I had accused him of. I wanted to say something, and I wanted to make him just face me and talk to me like normal people. But Hiei wasn't normal. And I wasn't going to get what I wanted.

I watched him for a minute, concentrating and focusing his energy into whatever it was he was working on, and I turned and walked away. I wasn't going to just stand around and get abused by some emotionally-unstable midget with a sword.

Walking along the beach was soothing to the worries plaguing me about the cloud of impending doom that seemed to hang over us. I avoided the tide coming in, watching my footprints disappearing into the sand. It felt inevitable, like all I was doing was going to be washed away. One day Kazuma, Shizuru, Genkai, Keiko, Yusuke, and I would all be dead. Shuichi and Hiei would still be alive, probably for hundreds if not thousands of years, and we would fade away from their memories like my footprints.

Damnit, why am I feeling so damn sorry for myself?

I shook my head hard, rapidly running my fingers through my hair and trying to pull myself out of this. I lifted my hand up and brought a whip of water up into the air. I brought my other hand up and twirled, bringing the whip with me and throwing it into the air, imagining Hiei's stupid face, throwing another part of water at the vision again and again. I fell to the ground, unable to stop the stupid smile that was forcing it's way past my lips.

"Yukina. I wasn't expecting to see you here." I commented, glancing to see her where I felt her. She brushed some hair out of her face, kneeling down next to me.

"You're distressed."

"I'm fine now. I'm just worried."

"About the finals or about something else?"

"All of the above?" I chuckled, shaking my head and sighing. "Yukina, can I ask you a... well, a kind of a weird question?"

"Of course." She nodded with a small smile.

"Well... you're a demon, and you like a human. So... how do you show Kazuma how you like him?" She cocked her head, frowning. I sighed, chewing on my lip. "A, uhm, friend of mine was wondering because she likes a demon and she wants to know how to tell if she should tell him or just leave it alone."

"I'm not sure, exactly. I think that humans and demons are very similar in that aspect that it would depend on the person how they would show their affection for another." She admitted. "I don't have much experience with humans, or for romance in general, but that seems to be what I've observed thus far."

"I see." I sighed.

"What friend is it? Do I know them?" She wondered, her naivety shining through that adorable smile and those shining crimson eyes. I blushed, clearing my throat and staring up at the sky.

"You have such a cute smile." I diverted the question. She giggled, covering her face and shaking her head. I grinned, giving her a light push with my shoulder. "So you think that she should treat it like any other relationship with a human?"

"I think that would be the wisest decision. I can't wait to meet her. What's she like?" She pushed.

I smirked. "Impulsive and a magnet for trouble more or less."

"She sounds like an excellent fit with everyone here."

"Yukina, are you going to stick around when all of this is over? I know before that you said you had permission to come here to try and find your brother, but what happens after the tournament is over? What if he isn't here?"

"I will have to return regardless of if I find him or not."

"That seems so unfair. You should be able to look until either you find him or you decide to return."

"It is highly unusual for an ice apparition to be allowed to leave the ice world." She insisted, playing with her fingers. "I was granted permission because of my insistence, but really I should still be there now. It was a blessing to be able to come here."

"Do you want to go back?"

"The ice world is where I belong. It's my home." She looked down at her hands. "But... I like it here. It's so much more vibrant than the ice world. There, everything is cold and colorless. Here, the world is beautiful, warm, vibrant."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to offer what comfort I could to her. She leaned her head on my shoulder, sighing, and glanced up at me.

"I am sorry, Ella. I came to help, and you are the one helping me."

"That's the best way to help, Yukina." I smiled, giving her a more proper hug. "I want you to be happy, and while I would love for that to mean that you will stay in the human world, if going back is what you want, I will never judge you for it. None of us will. We love you."

She smiled back at me, and opened her mouth to say something when a wave of cold seemed to pass through me. My heart jolted inside me, shocks coursing through my veins and numbing me out. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I felt a longing, terrible loss I had hoped I would never have to feel again.

Yukina wrapped her arms around me tightly, a look of startled realization on her face. Whatever this was, she could feel it too. I tried to calm down, hugging her tighter to try and stop the spasms coursing through me.

"Someone with great power has passed on." Yukina said quietly, looking to the sky.

I looked up with her, watching the colors swirling above me. I couldn't tell if it was real.

She was really gone.


	33. Chapter 33

The sky was twinkling with starlight, a vast and infinite universe that seemed to stretch on forever. The water crashed against the rocky side of the small cliff I was lying on, the chilling spray dodging my body and creating a halo around me, like a snow angel made from water. It had been hours since my tears had dried. There couldn't be any moisture left in my body, but no matter how exhausted I felt I could not close my eyes.

Everything was wrong; Genkai was too essential in our lives to just leave. What would happen to us without her here to push us into the right decisions?

The stars above me seemed to brighten momentarily, like they were winking at me. Like Genkai was telling me that I needed to stop being such a baby. I shook my head, feeling a fresh wet trail falling into the rocks beneath my head.

I breathed out, wiping at my eyes and feeling my limbs cry weakly in protest.

"What do you want, Hiei?" I croaked, pressing the heels of my hands harder into my eyes for a minute, watching the light behind my eyes dance before I pushed myself up. Every bone in my body cracked and snapped back into place. Great thanks for small miracles, I suppose.

"Your foolish cousin has been running all over this island looking for you. It is very irritating." He droned from a few feet behind me.

"Sounds like him." I dismissed, curling my knees to my chest and staring up at the stars again. They were still twinkling, still beautiful, but they were lacking that same brightness now.

There was silence for a single, tense moment. I could hear my heartbeat and the sound of his breathing. The water slapping against the rocky surface and the droplets of the soft spray on the top of this cliff. I could feel the wind pushing my hair from my face. I could feel the heat radiating off of Hiei. My senses were everywhere at once. It was... intense, setting my nerve endings on fire. It was like I was on the edge of this cliff staring down into the water below and there was nothing to save me from falling in and being torn apart by the jagged rocks below. It was overwhelming and exhilarating and painful.

I jumped at the warmth surrounding my shoulders, blinking up at Hiei. He dropped next to me like he was as tired as I was, his eyes forward and his arm on his knee. His coat was draped around me, fit like it was made for me. Guess that's what happens when someone is actually the same height as you. I hesitated, then pulled my arms through the sleeves and shivered at the sudden realization of how cold it had become out here. I pulled the lapels closer to my neck and was overwhelmed by his scent encompassing me.

We sat in silence, lost in our own thoughts. His face was perfectly silhouetted in the moonlight, crisp and sharp and masculine. I could almost see his crimson eyes glowing in the contrast of the light, which was mesmerizing in its own right. I blushed, looking down and scuffing some of the dirt with my shoe.

"So why are you really here, Hiei?" I wondered, drawing a swirl with the toe of my shoe and trying haphazardly to keep the lines from touching.

"You can't allow your mourning to control you." He stated, resting his hand down on my foot to stop my ministrations. "You've taken your time. You've remembered her. Now it is time to move on."

"You make it sound so simple." I sighed, reaching into my jeans pocket and playing with the chain hidden there, seeking the comfort it had never failed to bring me. "I don't know how to shut off what I feel, Hiei. I can't just turn off my emotions and make everything suddenly alright."

"Shutting off your emotions would be the second mistake."

"And what's my first mistake?"

"Fighting them." He removed his hand from my shoe and pushed himself up.

"I'm not fighting anything." I argued, turning to follow his movements.

"That's the one thing you excel at." He dismissed me casually, moving around and making some sort of marks in the dirt around us. "You fought your power and let it overwhelm you when it broke through. You fought your logic when you were faced with those two whelps in the woods and couldn't defend yourself. You're fighting how you feel now, and you're ripping yourself apart."

"How do you know about all of this?" I felt that surge of anger rear it's head, surprising myself with this intensity of emotion after the numbness had set in so long ago. "You never show your emotions. Ever."

"I feel the world differently than you." He stated simply.

"Yeah? And how is that?" I spat?

"You're a human, I am a demon. That alone makes us feel things differently. I've spent most of my life alone, isolated. You've spent your life in society, making friends and surrounded by your family."

"There are plenty of demons that show their emotion. I've seen that. You always shut everything out and force everything to stay at arm's length, and I can't live that way! And what the hell are you doing?!"

He smirked at me, looking up from the last mark he was making and facing me fully. "I'm going to stay within these boundaries here. I want to see if you've bothered to learn anything while you've been here."

I felt my palms tingling, drawing in the moisture from all around us without my attention. I grit my teeth and swung my arm as hard as I could, sending shards of ice at the fire demon standing there with that cocky as hell smirk. I wanted to wipe it off his smug face, something that was becoming so irritatingly common the last week.

"You can do better." He informed from behind me. I growled, whipping around and throwing everything I had at him. He kept moving, and I followed his every move, throwing water and ice and everything that I could summon at him, trying to keep him down. He bolted closer to me when my shard knicked his pants and I brought my hands up defensively. He leapt over me, taking my waist and pulling me straight to the ground, bringing my shield down with me. A strangled cry escaped from somewhere in me and I stood up gracelessly and threw a punch. He blocked me with his forearm and I followed it up with a few kicks that he pushed aside. I managed to catch his forearm and leapt onto him, wrapping my legs around his thighs and forcing him back for once.

Even underneath me he still maintained his control, something that was doing nothing for my patience, and he blocked every punch I was throwing with his forearms, parrying them off to the side. I kept throwing them until my arms felt heavy. I could barely see him when I gripped onto his shirt and weakly fell off to the side. All I felt was warmth as I clung to him, sobs wracking my body and making it so hard to breathe. I cried out of frustration and anger, out of sadness and regret, and when I had cried those out I cried because I knew that Hiei was too far out of my reach to ever really have and it scared me.

Black was fading into the edges of my vision and I swear I felt something warm brush against my cheek, moving my damp hair out of my face. That warmth traveled down to my waist and pulled me right up against Hiei's chest, and I felt air in my lungs again. I curled my tired bones into him, waiting for the darkness to take me.

"Hiei, where is your family?" I mumbled.

"My sister is from a world that has never included me." He said after a long moment, detachment ringing in the air. "She is my only family."

"Where is she?"

"She is always within my sight." He answered vaguely, irking my sluggish curiosity. "Go to sleep, troublesome human."

"Bossy." I murmured, closing my eyes and letting out one last breath before my mind slipped away into the night.


	34. Chapter 34

**Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! You guys and gals are amazing; I hope you enjoy the coming events in Ella's life, and feel to free to review! Have a wonderful day!**

I chewed on my cuticles, watching in my mind as Gandalf consulted Gimli on where to go within the Mines of Moria. I sat on edge with Frodo and Aragorn and Sam, my nerves on edge with them as they waited longer than usual for Gandalf to reach his decision on where they would go now within the maze that was Moria. This was one of my favorite parts, and it got me on edge every time. The darkness, the danger, the haunting descriptions of Gimli's song...

The leaves on the branch next to me shifted, a breeze moving aside my bangs. I glanced up, feeling someone's eyes on me. It had happened several times now since I had crawled up here, and while I can usually sense when someone comes near me, this presence was masked. Familiar, but masked. It was a little frustrating, but I wasn't prepared to forego my peaceful little spot just because some demon wanted to be an asshole.

I focused back on the Mines of Moria, allowing myself to be swept away once more in the mystery, the pure tension surrounding the fellowship. I could hear the cries of anguish and feel the fear as Gandalf was lost, and waited with baited breath as the fellowship made their way to Lothlórien to meet Galadriel and Celeborn.

I grit my teeth, whipping my head up to try and catch whoever it was that was sitting there stalking me. No one was there again, and that presence was still too close and too familiar. I KNEW whoever this was, but I couldn't place it.

I glanced down at the pages again determinedly ignoring the presence, which I admit was not necessarily the most intelligent decision I had made today, and tore my way through the chapter. I felt a breeze, and a discernibly more bright aura surrounding me, and I turned left to smile at Jin.

"You've been rather distant the last few days." I noted, placing my bookmark in back in the page and tucking it in my cargo pocket. "I thought I'd done something to offend you."

"Nah lass, jus bein respectful o' distance." He landed on the tree gracefully, giving me a knowing smirk. I was confused, and let it show on my face. "Yer lover wit da red eyes. Givin some awful dark looks since we been trainin' together. Didn't want ta start no trouble."

I felt my chest heat up, sure my face was on fire once again. "I don't... what..."

He laughed, ruffling my hair. "Ye don' have ta deny it, lass. Everyone knows, I jus want ye ta be careful if some low life comes round ta mess wit him through ya."

"What do you mean everyone knows? Everyone knows what?!" I demanded, my heart speeding up. He just wiggled his eyebrows at me and grinned. I hit his shoulder, hurting myself far more than I was hurting him. "Get your mind out of the gutter! Why does everyone think that's the only thing a boy and girl can do when they're alone together!"

He just laughed harder and poked my cheek affectionately. "So you don' deny it then."

"There... I don't even... I'm not comfortable talking about this with you, Jin!" I smacked his hand away and started my descent down the tree. He grabbed me around the waist and floated down to the ground.

"Don' get defensive, love. Twas jus wondering."

"Hiei isn't going to get involved with a human." I fidgeted with my braid, frustrated at the fresh bout of reminders that I was hopelessly infatuated with a demon that was way out of my league and who would never stop to look twice at me. "That's all there is to it, Jin. Let's just drop it."

He gave me a funny look, glancing me up and down, and finally put his hands on his hips. "De both o' ya are idjits."

I glared at him, crossing my arms and leaning back into the tree trunk. "You don't know anything about this."

"Pout all ye want." he dismissed. "Ye know I'm right. Ye go abou' starin' and he follows ye around te make sure ye ain't gettin in no trouble. Ye go hidin' up in trees to avoid yer problems and he goes te the opposite side o' the island to avoid his. Ye both need te get yer heads out o` yer asses."

"I am not hiding from my problems! I just want to read my book in peace!"

"O ya, ah course ya do."

"Get out of my tree if you're going to be mean."

"Ye gonna make me?"

One swift kick pushed him off of the branch, and it would have been amazing, except for the fact that Jin just crossed his legs and laughed at me floating in midair. I rolled my eyes, climbing down the branches and wandering down the path. His laughter died to a thoughtful silence, and thankfully he made no attempt to come after me.

Hiei seeing me as anything more than a pest... what a joke.

I sighed, yesterday draining all of my energy away once more. Distraction could only work so long, I suppose. Genkai kept flitting around my mind, her voice telling me that I needed to focus, that I needed to look at all elements involved to understand and to follow my gut instincts. It was terrifying, like she was actually speaking into my mind.

Water surrounded me in a bubble, shielding me as I consciously became aware of the demon leaping at me from a branch on my left. I waved my arm, sending him off behind me.

"I'm not in the mood." I warned her, crossing my arms. She hissed at me, eyes flitting around at my water, and she bolted rather than continue fighting. I sighed, letting the water back into the flask at my hip. I would never understand demons.

"You're distracted today."

I tensed, recognizing that voice. Now I just knew who he was.

"Everyone has their days." I countered, turning to face him. "What are you doing out here, Toguro?"

He smirked, light flashing across his sunglasses. Of course there was no answer. Why should the man who brought my friends to this island to die answer any of my questions?

"You could have just let security hurt me. You didn't have to help me; Why did you do it?"

"You weren't involved in my plans for Yusuke Urameshi." He answered my silent accusation with a casual dismissal.

"And the first day we met?"

"I couldn't ignore such potential." Once more he answered so casually, like he was talking about the weather. I sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Well, regardless of your reasons, thank you. You jump-started this. But I'm not going to be happy about you bringing my friends here to meet their ends. I'm just not."

"I expected nothing less."

I looked down at my feet, scuffing my shoe in the dirt while I tried to think of something else to say. There was nothing really _to_ say.

"She had a good life."

I frowned up at him. "What?"

"Mourning her passing is not what she would have wanted. She was a fighter who fought until the end. Practice what she taught you. Let her live through your techniques."

"What the hell do you know about Genkai?" I snapped, my temper flaring through everything else I was feeling. "You didn't even know her; don't tell me what she would have wanted from me like I don't already know!"

"Genkai and I had history." He stated. I stared at him, waiting for more, and felt frustration rising quicker and quicker with him just smirking at me.

"You're not going to elaborate, are you?"

He chuckled, turning around and meandering into the woods.

Of course, because why wouldn't someone just piss me off for the fun of it today?

I kicked the dirt hard, grinding my teeth and stalking back toward the hotel. Since apparently everyone and their demonic grandmothers are out and about today, that room is the only place I can just be alone and think. My mind was too clouded to think properly; how did Genkai know Toguro? Why didn't she tell us?

"Shut up." I muttered at Jin's grinning face. His chuckle followed me a little ways into the woods, echoing off the trees. I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face in the same breath that I envied his outlook and ability to laugh at anything that came his way. He really was one of a kind, and becoming one of my best friends regardless of how much I wanted to sock him one. I could feel the corners of my mouth quirking at that thought. Who would've thought?


End file.
